Geniuses of Hard Work
by aduck1
Summary: Mizuki decides to have Naruto steal the scroll a year early. As a result, Naruto becomes a member of Team Nine. Now he prepares to prove to the world that with enough hard work, and good teammates, you can overcome anything.
1. Prologue: A Year Early

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

* * *

**Prologue: A Year Early**

"You fail." Those words echoed in his mind, continuously coming to the front. "You fail." He had failed. Try as he would to deny it, he couldn't. The blond-haired boy walked slowly, pushing open a door. Cheerful sunlight mocked him. His ocean blue eyes squinted, trying to discern the shapes in front of him.

"You fail." He saw them now. Parents congratulating the children at making genin rank. Something he had failed at for a second time. He still couldn't get the stupid _bushin_ jutsu down. "You fail." All that appeared was a half dead clone. Tears fell slightly from those eyes, running down his face and hitting the edges of his whisker marks.

"I failed. Again. I don't get it. I worked so hard…" He walked alone, as he had always been. Even that Lee kid, who couldn't mold chakra, had succeeded. All because some jounin had believed in him, and taken him on as an apprentice.

"Damn it! It is not fair!" Naruto threw a punch into a tree. His slightly sharper than normal teeth were bared. "Why can't I do it? Why can't I get it right? Why? I would do anything to pass. To show them all that I will be Hokage. Then they would have to acknowledge me!"

The boy looked up, craning his neck to take in the sight anyone in the village could see. The four faces of the past and present Hokages looked down upon him, as if challenging him to back up his words. He raised his fist in defiance, orange sleeve sliding down. "You wait and see. Someday I will surpass all of you, dattebayo!"

Behind the boy was a white haired chunnin academy instructor. Mizuki watched as Naruto offered to do anything to get promoted. 'Screw waiting another year. The Demon is as desperate as he is going to get. I want the scroll now.' With that final thought, Mizuki walked up to Naruto and asked "How are you feeling?"

* * *

An incredibly well sculpted man wearing a tight green spandex was oddly still. He was meditating on his tortoise familiar, Ningame, a wise middle-aged tortoise with a diamond-back shell and a leaf headband. Both were so still they could be statues. Maito Gai's breathing was so shallow you couldn't actually tell he was breathing.

Both human and summon were in deep thought about Gai's upcoming genin team. With Lee and Tenten, the two had no problems at coming up with training plans. The problem lay with Neji, the Hyuuga prodigy. The boy on the brink of teenage hood was already showing great promise in his family arts, and while Gai couldn't directly teach him any Juuken, he could increase Neji's speed and strength. The problem lay in Neji's attitude.

The heir to the Branch House (**1**) was very unyouthful, going against Gai's code of conduct in a way the rub him much worse than his eternal rival's hip-cool attitude. Neji was a fatalistic boy who belittled all he believed were below him, which was pretty much everybody. He was indifferent to Tenten, which could be worked with, but he hated Lee and what Lee represented with a frozen passion beyond his usual icy demeanor.

Gai would have liked to have been able to trade Neji for a different graduate, but there was no one else he could teach well. He was a taijutsu specialist with little talent for ninjutsu and no talent in casting genjustu, only breaking them. The remaining students were better suited for the respective teachers, who were more adept in those fields.

So how to break Neji out of his mold? That was the quandary Gai and Ningame had been pondering for the last few hours. The best idea they had come up with was getting Lee to have a rivalry with Neji, which should be easy, and have Lee win. If Lee could beat Neji, it would prove that fate did not exist, and should make Neji more youthful. It wasn't a great plan, but it was the best they had come up with.

A loud caterwauling alarm caused them to react. Gai recognized it immediately, a lockdown and chunnin and jounin report alarm. "Yosh! I shall reach the Hokage tower in one minute and if I can't do that then I shall do 100 laps around Kohona once this crisis is over! Youth!" With that the bowl haired man ran off towards the tower as his summon disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Fifty five seconds later Gai was at the tower. The Third Hokage, dressed in his ceremonial clothes and lit pipe in his mouth, was surveying the shinobi as they shunshined in. His face was clenched in a rictus of worry and apprehension.

"My fellow shinobi, we have a crisis on our hands. It has just been discovered that over several hours ago the forbidden scroll of sealing was stolen by one Naruto Uzumaki. Both Naruto and the scroll must be recovered unharmed. You have your orders, carry them out."

"**HAI, HOKAGE-SAMA!"** The shinobi leapt away in different directions, Gai among them.

Fifteen minutes later Gai was tree-hopping through the forest. A shout of "Naruto, give me the scroll!" made him look around. He hopped over to where he heard an exchange of blows, only to see two academy instructors recovering from a fight.

One of them, Iruka, was in bad condition, bleeding from multiple kunai wounds. The other, Mizuki, was far better off. Hiding behind a tree was Naruto, holding onto the scroll with his shaking hands.

"Why do you defend it, Iruka? You know a demon like him will just use the scroll to gain power, so he can destroy the village."

"You want it for yourself, so you can gain power." Iruka held up a trembling finger at Mizuki. He then lowered it. "Yes, a demon would use the power in that scroll for terrible purposes." From his position, Gai could see Naruto's face fall. "But Naruto is not the Kyuubi, he is its container, its jail. Naruto is a proud citizen of the leaf, and my student!"

Gai was stunned by the display of youth by the wounded chunnin. It was motivational, inspirational, YOUTHFUL! Even young Naruto was caught up in the youth of the speech, his eyes hardening.

At the same time, Mizuki readied some shuriken to throw at Iruka, no doubt to finish off the teacher. Gai readied himself to jump down, but was interrupted by Naruto springing out of his hiding place. "Hey, Mizuki-teme. Stay away from Iruka-sensei."

Mizuki laughed. "So, are you going to fight me little demon? Fine, makes it easier for me; now I don't have to track you down to kill you." The eleven year old boy stood his ground proudly.

"Ha! Whatever you do, I will pay you back one-thousand fold!" The boy put his fingers in a cross position. "_Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"_ Gai blinked as hundreds of Naruto clones poofed into existence, surrounding the combatants. Many appeared on the trees, including one on the tree Gai was in.

Said clone bumped into Gai while shifting to a better place on the tree. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. Right now I need to kick Mizuki-teme's ass." Gai simply smiled and gave him his patented thumbs up "nice guy" look.

"No problem. Fight with youth, and you will win."

"Uh…ok?" The clone blinked for a few seconds, and then noticed its brethren pouncing and pounding on the traitorous teacher. "Hold up, I got to get my fair share in!" With that the clone jumped into the beat-down, screaming war cries all the way.

Soon all the clones were dispersed as their chakra was used up, leaving a very battered and unconscious Mizuki behind. The remaining Naruto was smiling proudly over his victory.

"Naruto…coming here please." Naruto turned to see his sensei, who had propped himself up against a tree. He quickly walked over, worry in his face. "You have made me very proud. Please close your eyes." The student did so, and felt his something being place on his forehead. "You may open them now." He did so, and gasped.

Iruka no longer had his forehead protector on his head. Which meant it must be on his head. Which meant-"Yes, you are now a full-fledged shinobi of Kohona. Congratulations, you have passed you genin exam!"

Naruto's smile was so bright, it was like a miniature sun. "Thank you Iruka-sensei. I won't let you down." A thump behind him caused Naruto to spin around, only to see the green loving Jounin behind him.

Gai raised his hand to his face, biting his thumb deep enough to draw blood. With that he made five hand seals and shouted "_Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" _and slammed his palm into the ground. There was a burst of smoke, from which Ningame the tortoise emerged.

"Naruto, I must ask you to ride Ningame here to the Hokage tower with the forbidden scroll of sealing. He will vouch for you. I will take Iruka to the hospital and Mizuki to T&I."

"Wow! That was so cool. You just summoned a turtle from nothing. Can you show me how to do that? Please?" Naruto tried his "puppy-eyes jutsu" making him look rather cute, despite his horrendously orange jumpsuit.

"Ah such youth! Unfortunately, I cannot teach you the youthful arts of summoning today. Now, you have a job to do." With that, Gai scooped up Iruka and Mizuki and flung them each over a shoulder. Then, with a cry of "YOUTH!" he ran off towards Kohona.

Naruto blinked twice at the sheer speed of the man. He had left an afterimage! "Wow, I just realized he had the bushiest eyebrows I have ever seen. Seriously, they were like freaking caterpillars. But man was he fast. I'll bet he is strong, too. Weird as Hell, but strong." After placing the scroll on the tortoise, he hefted himself onto Ningame. "So, do I just say 'go to the Hokage tower?' or something."

Ningame grunted, and turned towards the village. "I am quite capable of figuring it out myself."

Naruto jumped up at the unexpected speaking. "Wow, you can speak? That is so cool! I'll bet you have all these awesome stories, don't you? Can you tell me some? Please-please-please-" Ningame prepared himself for a long journey, despite how little time it would actually take him to reach the tower.

* * *

After placing Iruka in the hospital and Mizuki at T&I, he made his way to the Hokage tower. The Third Hokage was already talking to Naruto, no doubt about the Kyuubi sealed inside him on his day of birth. Gai shuddered, as he remembered the giant nine-tailed fox attacking the village. Over a sixth of the population had died due to events from that day, whether in direct contact, or from sickness spread by its corrupt chakra. Many names had been added to the memorial stone.

After about half an hour of waiting, Naruto shuffled out, a shell-shocked look on his face. He was finally comprehending the fact that he was a Jinchuuriki, a human container of one of the nine biju, the demons of the land. The boy was so startled by the revelation that he didn't even notice Gai. With that, Gai walked into the Hokage's office.

"Ah, Gai-san, is there something I can do for you?" The old man looked much more strained than he had this morning, or even at the time of the announcement of the theft, the events of the day clearly taking their toll on the man. It was at times like this that Gai was reminded that no matter how youthful the Hokage acted, he was still a seventy-eight year old man who had seen three world wars, and several smaller wars. Considering what the Hokage had gone through, time had been very kind to him indeed.

"Yes there is, Hokage-sama. I humbly request that Naruto be placed on my team in place of Neji." The Hokage puffed on his pipe, sending a ring of smoke upward. He noticed the lack of 'Youth' in Gai's speech. That meant that he was serious about the topic.

"Why?"

"Neji cannot flourish under me. While I can improve him, he will grow no matter which team he is placed on, due to the fact that the Branch House will tutor him no matter what. His attitude is completely against my philosophy, and he would probably resist me at every turn. He would not get along well with Lee, and be indifferent of Tenten.

On the other hand, Naruto has great spirit and determination. With his _kage bushin_ I could turn him into a taijutsu master. He would become a friendly rival with Lee, something both boys need. I think Team Nine would greatly benefit from having Naruto."

"So you don't think Lee and Tenten will resent Naruto-kun for graduating a year early and being placed onto their team?"

"No Hokage-sama. Lee would appreciate someone who works as hard as he does, and Tenten won't care either way."

"You do realize that Kakashi wants to train Naruto as well? He is, after all, the Fourth's legacy."

"I know my rival wants to train Naruto. However, the council will protest it, and he would be better off training Sasuke next year. Also, I intend to have Team Nine trained enough to enter and succeed in the Chunnin exams a year and a half from now. Kakaski can train Naruto after he becomes a chunnin."

There was a long silence as the Hokage puffed into his pipe. The soothing smell of the herbs being burned hung in the air. "Very well, you have my approval Gai-san. Team Nine will consist of Naruto Uzumaki, Lee Rock, and Tenten Hasuwada, with Jounin instructor Maito Gai."

Gai smiled broadly, and the light in the room caused his teeth to sparkle. "Yosh! Thank you Hokage-sama. I shall turn Team Nine into the most youthful team ever!"

The Hokage watched as Gai speed walked, for he never simply walked, out of the room. "I am sure you will do so. Good luck Naruto-kun."

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

**(1) : I decided that the Branch House is run by the head of the Branch House, or in the case of the heir being unable to lead at the time, the head of the whole clan. The head of the Branch House is still subservient to any Main House members. This is to further symbolize the separation of the two houses. Neji, by not being married, a Jounin or 21 (whichever comes first) is the heir to the Branch House, but not yet the leader. This will little to no impact on the story.**


	2. Chapter 1: Team Nine

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Team 9**

"Naruto-kun, are you sure you want this as you ninja id picture? It doesn't seem very… professional." That was an understatement. Naruto had worn a short sleeve t-shirt (orange of course), and his headband. What were not fine were the orange lines he had drawn all over his arms and face. It was clearly designed to make him look like a specter or demon, but it just looked ridiculous. Especially with the "ferocious" pose the boy was in.

"No way Hokage-jiji. That picture just shows how awesome I am!" Well, hopefully the boy would grow out of this phase. There would be no way any Hokage could have such a ridiculous picture. Although, he was going to train under Gai…

"Very well." He puffed on his ever-present pipe, soothing his nerves. "On a final topic, I have a gift for you Naruto-kun. I originally planned to give it to you on your birthday, but you have earned it by graduating early." With that the Hokage pulled out a set of goggles. If the two had lived in modern America, they would have called the goggles "aviator goggles." Instead, they were "cool looking goggles".

"THANKS JIJI!" Naruto quickly grabbed the goggles, and placed them on. "Wow, they are way more comfortable than I expected. These are awesome, just like me!" The Hokage smiled as he watched Naruto gush over the goggles with a child's innocence. It was great to see that he had managed to maintain this innocence despite his hard life. Hopefully the harsh reality of the ninja world would not break the boy.

"Yes Naruto, you are awesome to graduate a year early. That is something I did not do." At this, Naruto perked up. He had beat Hokage-jiji at something?! "On the other hand, I graduated at the age of 10 and did it without repeating a year." The old man grinned as Naruto's face fell.

"Hah hah, laugh it up old man. You just keep that seat warm for me, for soon I will be Hokage! Believe it, dattebayo!" With that the young genin turned around and marched out. 'Ha, I am a genin now. This is awesome. Though, it was too bad there was no surprise attack on the old man. Then I could have saved him in some super awesome way. Then he would be so impressed, he would hand me the hat right then and there.' Naruto was so entranced by his daydream that he missed the child who walked past him wrapped up in a ridiculously long scarf and holding several wooden shuriken.

* * *

The next morning opened with a blaring alarm clock. A fist pounded on the large off button, silencing the alarm. The young self-proclaimed future Hokage, got up, stretched, and looked at his calendar. "Holy shit, today is team assignment day. I can't be late!" Naruto then looked around his room, and realized how dirty it was. That was so different from Hokage-jiji's office. Clearly a Hokage had to be neat.

Fortunately, Naruto had the perfect solution. "_Kage bushin no jutsu!"_ Ten clones popped up. "Well, start cleaning."

"Why should we? We won't enjoy the benefits of cleaning."

"Because I am the original. Now do it before I dispel you." Grumbling, the clones got to work. "Ha, this is the most awesome jutsu ever." With that, Naruto took a quick shower and had his usual breakfast of ramen. After all, every meal had to have the food the gods. Donning his orange jumpsuit, headband, and awesome goggles, Naruto Uzumaki stepped out of his house. "Look out world! Here comes Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage."

* * *

Tenten Hasuwada blinked as she woke up in an unfamiliar room? Why was she not at the orphanage? Ah, that was right. She was a genin now, and as such had moved out. Now she could support herself.

The apartment was specifically set up orphan genins. They came pre-stocked with basic household items like pots, towels, washer and dryer, and other basic necessities. It would take a while to get used to making her own meals, but she could adjust.

The only piece of furniture that was hers was a human dart board. She had bought one with saved money found on the ground when she was eight so that she could practice her aim. Tenten grabbed the kunai and shrunken on the table, and through them straight at the board. Ten out of ten. Perfect, like her. She was ready for today. After washing up, dressing, and eating a simple breakfast (plain cereal and an apple, she didn't feel like trying her hand at cooking just yet), Tenten walked confidently out of her apartment.

She was dressed in a Chinese dress. Her black hair was styled in such a way that it had two buns. Her black eyes racked the surrounding area with a surprising keenness from the preteen.

She remembered that there had been one other apartment complex for genins, but apparently only one person lived there and it was run down. Also, the person was reportedly a trouble maker. Tenten didn't want to associate with a trouble maker. As she waked to the schools, she began to wonder who would be on her team. Hopefully Neji would be one of her teammates. He was so dreamy…wait. Don't go fangirl, Tsunade-sama hates fangirls.

* * *

Lee Rock woke to the blaring alarm clock. He quickly turned it off, and stared at the poster on the ceiling of his room. It simply said "YOU CAN DO IT!" Still, it was one of the greatest gifts he had ever been given.

When Lee had turned four, he had gone for his annual checkup with his parents. They were doing a ninja evaluation as well, to see if he had the chakra coils for becoming one. It was then that they discovered his…problem (don't say disability, disability implies you can't overcome it.) He could expel chakra, but not mold it. He would be unable to use ninjutsu and genjustu. In short, in the eyes of everyone he could not become a ninja. There was no cure.

His parents could have bawled. They could have offered up anything to "cure" him. They could have marked him a failure. Instead they simply said "What do you want to do? We will support you no matter what." It was then that Lee had declared that he would become a ninja, no matter what people said.

That day his parents had bought him the poster, and placed it in his room. Every day he woke up to those words. Every day he fell asleep to them. They were his mantra. And so he had entered the academy and worked his hardest. And someone had recognized his hard work, and had agreed to sponsor him.

Lee washed and dressed. His mother was downstairs making his favorite breakfast, a hearty eggs and bacon with tabasco sauce. "I am so proud of you Lee. You have shown everyone what you are capable of. It's too bad your father had to be away on business." Lee nodded vigorously.

"Thank you. I wouldn't have made it as far as I had without your support." His mother smiled and served his food.

"It is no problem. After all, it is a parent's job to take care of their children. You just promise me you will be careful."

"Don't worry, I will be." The boy with black braided hair and a normal t-shirt with sweat pants quickly finished his meal. "Well, I am off."

"Good luck." Lee simply smiled and raised his hand in a thumb up position. Then he was off.

* * *

On training ground 9, a green-clad jounin was suddenly struck by a great feeling of youth. "YOSH! I will train the best and most youthful team ever. I just know it!" He then finished his exercises of youth, cleaned up, and headed for the academy.

* * *

"**EVERYONE QUITE DOWN!"** Iruka's head was enlarged to gigantic proportions, scaring the class into submission. Honestly, what did it take to keep people quiet? Then again, he had been exactly the same when he had been assigned to his team.

The ponytailed chunnin sported several new scars from his encounter with Mizuki last week, but his only visible one was the scar on his nose, which was an old wound. The more recent wounds still hurt a little, but there was no way he was going to let this day pass without him there. Iruka was a teacher absolutely dedicated to his students. He would not be stopped from sending them off on their paths to be ninja.

"I know you are all excited, so please, just let me read of the team assignments. Team one is…"

Naruto Uzumaki as having trouble paying attention. He was just too excited to sit still and listen. Who knew who his sensei would be? It would have to be some extra special for the future Hokage!

He suddenly looked up. "Sweet, my clones picked up everything. My apartment looks awesome." He suddenly scrunched up his face in confusion. "Wait, how do I know that?" He then once again began to pay attention to Iruka.

"Next up is Team 9: Rock Lee, Hasuwada Tenten, and Uzumaki Naruto. Your jounin leader is Gai Maito." Naruto blinked. He didn't really remember Tenten, but Lee was someone he knew somewhat well. The boy had struggled with ninjutsu more than he had, and Lee had only passed because some jounin had vouched for him. And why was the name Gai so familiar?

"Team Nine, assemble over here!" Blinking, Naruto turned to see someone he recognized.

"It's you! The Green Shouty Man who can summon turtles! You're my sensei?" Said green man smiled with a thumb up. Naruto noted that the light reflecting off his teeth had somehow made a pinging noise.

"No, for training only you would be most unyouthful! I will train all of Team 9 equally. Now come to the village gates where we will have our first team exercises. YOUTH!" The jounin then turned around and ran out of the classroom.

"Hey, wait up." Naruto quickly followed as an orange blur. Not to be outdone, Lee followed. He would work extra hard for this Jounin who had believed in him. Tenten simply sighed. It looked like her entire team was full of crazies. It was too bad she hadn't been put on Neji's team. He was great eye candy.

* * *

Ten minutes later the team was assembled at the gates. Tenten had just arrived, clearly having walked while her teammates had run. "Tenten, please do not keep your team waiting. It is most unyouthful." There was a large frown on Gai's face.

To her credit, Tenten just blinked before replying "Sorry sensei. It will not happen again." The man began to smile again.

"Excellent. Now we must have some youthful introductions. I will go first. I am Gai Maito, jounin of Kohona. I like being in the springtime of my youth, challenging my eternal rival, and exercising. I dislike the hip-cool attitude of my eternal rival and those who fight without honor. My hobbies include training and writing poetry. My goal is to train you to be the best ninjas possible, and my dream is to make the world a more honorable place. Now it is your turn!"

Naruto jumped up and down. "I got this. I get to go first. My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, Teuchi-jiisan, Ayame-neechan, Hokage-jiji, and Iruka-sensei. I dislike the three minutes it takes to make ramen, people who can't tell the difference between a scroll and a kunai, and the Kyuubi. My hobbies are training, pranking, and gardening. My goal is to become Hokage, and my dream is to be the strongest ninja ever!"

"Yosh, I am next. I am Rock Lee. I like training and my family. I dislike those who say I can't make it as a ninja. My hobbies include training and cooking. My goal is to become a jounin and my dream is to prove that geniuses of hard work can overcome natural geniuses. My dream is to make my family proud of me."

"I guess it is my turn. I am Hasuwada Tenten. I like throwing weapons and strong kunoichi. I dislike those who think women can't fight as well as men. My hobbies are hairstyling and metalworking. My goal is to become a ninja as strong as Lady Tsunade-sama. My dream is to one day have my own family and to help other orphans." Tenten was looking at Gai while saying this, and thus missed Naruto's look of pity.

"Yosh, you are all bursting with youth. Unfortunately, we are not Team Nine yet. You still have one last test before the team can be finalized."

Looks of shock and horror greeted the jounin's declaration. "What! That is not fair. No way am I being sent back to the academy." Naruto looked downright furious.

"Don't worry. I am sure the entire team will pass. The challenge is quite simple. You have to run ten laps around Kohona. You may take as much time as you need, as long as you keep on jogging. However, if you are lapped twice, you will be removed from this team and sent back to the academy. As some people say "a team is only as strong as its weakest link." Do you understand the challenge?"

Three pairs of eyes blinked. "Run around Kohona ten times? We so got this. Let's go!" A blur of orange took off, only to pause. "Which direction?"

Gai smiled and began running around clockwise. "This way. Run with youth, and you will succeed." Then he was off, leaving only dust cloud behind.

"Yosh! I will overcome this challenge!" With that, Lee took off, determined to win and passing the stunned Naruto, who was still trying to comprehend the speed of Gai. This spurred the blond to move.

"Hey, wait up!" Tenten sighed again. Completely nuts, that was all she could say about her team. Then she began jogging.

* * *

The first lap was the easiest, yet all the genin still had to slow down somewhat. The second lap was when things started to get painful. By then Naruto had caught up to Lee, and the two had begun a heated race to win first. It was at the third lap that the two males saw Tenten. She was panting, clearly winded.

"Tenten, are you alright?"

"I am (huff-huff) fine. I-I…got this. Just (huff) got to (huff-puff) keep moving. It was clear she was not fine to both Lee and Naruto.

"You are not fine. Lee, help me carry her."

"Wait (huff), what?"

"Naruto?"

"You heard Gai-sensei. If anyone is lapped, they are off the team. We are too fast for her, we have to carry her."

"Ah, you are right. Here, let me help."

As the bun-haired girl began to protest her manhandling, Gai began to catch up to the group. The jounin had been lapping the group rather consistently, proving his speed and stamina. By then he had already completed twenty-five laps.

"Aha, what are you doing there?"

Naruto turned to face the jounin. "We are helping our teammate." His tone was a clear "do you have a problem with that?"

Gai smiled a bright smile. "YOSH, such YOUTH! Team Nine PASSES!" All three genin stopped moving and blinked in surprise.

"WHAT!"

Gain continued to smile. "There was no way that a fresh genin could run ten laps. No, the true test was whether you would help a teammate in distress. Remember what I said about how some people say that "a team is only as strong as its weakest link"? Well, they are wrong. A team is only as strong as its teamwork. If you had left Tenten, I would have failed you and sent you back.

My Eternal Rival put it best. "Those who disobey orders are trash in the ninja world, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." You did not abandon Tenten, proving you are worthy of being genin of Kohona. Your Will of Fire burns brightly, fanned by the Flames of Youth!"

"Yatta! We pass! We are awesome dattebayo!" Similar chants of success echoed among the genin.

"Indeed. In recognition of your youth, I present you with these Suits of Youth." With that, the jounin pulled out three green spandex one-pieces. While Lee and Naruto began to droll over them, Tenten back away in horror.

"YOSH! Those are awesome." Lee ran forward to claim one. Naruto grinned, and then frowned.

"Do you have them in orange?" Gai's smile simply got bigger as he pulled out an orange suit. "AWESOME!" Naruto quickly snagged the article of clothing, and began to unzip his jumpsuit.

"Not in front of me you baka!" Tenten had started to turn a lovely shade of red. Naruto, upon realizing that he had been about to strip in front of his team, blinked twice, and then began to blush.

"Ack! Sorry, Tenten-chan." He then realized something important. "Hey, why have you not claimed your Suite of Youth? Is there not one that is the color you like?"

Tenten turned green at the thought of wearing one of those hideous one-pieces. "There is no way in Hell I am wearing one of those…things." Gai's smile disappeared, but he didn't frown. Instead he stored the suits.

"Very well. Team Nine is now official. Meet me tomorrow at training ground nine at seven o'clock in the morning."

"HAI sensei!" With that, Team Nine dispersed.

* * *

Mai Gai was waiting in the room full of Jounin when Kakashi finally entered, two and a half hours late. "Sorry, I am late. I got lost on the road of life while helping old ladies cross the road." He eyed smiled at his unamused audience.

"Curse your unyouthfulness my Eternal Rival. You can't always be late."

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Before Gai could explode in a burst of youth, the Hokage intervened.

"Right, now that we are all here, can you tell me who passed and failed?"

The jounin rattled off passes and fails. Only three reports stuck with Gai. "Team 6 fails. They had no teamwork and no drive. I saved their lives and sent them back." That was his eternal rival.

"Ha, you must have failed to make the great inspiration of youth. I, Gai Maito, am pleased to announce that Team 9 of Rock Lee, Hasuwada Tenten, and Uzumaki Naruto have passed in a most youthful fashion." Gai felt the eye of Kakashi snap on him at the words Uzumaki Naruto.

The other team that he recalled was the one under Denka Kurama, the leader of Team 12. This team consisted of Neji Hyuuga, Minato Yamanaka, and Mizore Nara.

After the meeting Kakashi corned Gai. "Naruto is on your team? Will he do well?" Gai smiled.

"Do not worry. Naruto will grow greatly on my team. Once he reaches chunnin, you can instruct him in ninjutsu. I will protect him, and groom him into a taijutsu master. He will be safe." Kakaski visibly relaxed.

"Good. And Gai, thanks."

"No problem my Eternal Rival. But you do realize this counts as a victory for me, putting me at 47 wins over 46 losses. I am winning!"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?"


	3. Chapter 2: A Simple C-Rank

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 2: A Simple C rank**

Naruto Uzumaki awoke with the alarm at 5:30. He quickly tapped it off, and leaped out of bed. After a few stretches he showered, clothed himself, and ate; all in the span of twenty minutes. The young Uzumaki was clad in a one-piece orange spandex. His forehead protector was wrapped around his waist like a belt. Orange rimmed goggles protected his ocean blue eyes. Green weights, which also doubled as leg warmers, went up passed his shins, stopping just below the knee.

"Yatta! I will not lose to Lee again. I must hurry to training down nine. I will win, dattebayo!" Then there was only a ball of dust.

* * *

"Hah! I win this time Bushy-Brows. That brings me closer to winning. The score is now 38 to 42. Soon I will surpass you!" Tenten could only sigh as she arrived at training ground nine. Honestly, was she the only sane person on her team? She was willing to bet that Neji didn't put up with this.

Naruto and Lee were like opposite identical twins. Naruto would wear orange where Lee wore green. Lee's hair, no longer braided, was neat and well kept, if in an odd bowl cut. Naruto's sun-kissed hair was spiky and wild. Yet their personalities were similar. They were loud, proud people who would challenge any who looked down on them. The two, upon the advice of their equally insane sensei, had taken to constantly challenging one another to prove their worth.

"SUCH YOUTH! YOU TWO BURN BRIGHTLY!" And there he was. Except for being taller and older, Gai may have been identical to Lee. It was so unnerving. "Let us begin with some youthful exercises."

One thing was certain though; these exercises were giving her a body most women would kill for. It was hard, but rewarding. Pushups, crunches, pull-ups, and jogs around the village were the staple of the exercises. Then end results were lean, strong muscles and a wonderful six-pack. After that they would stretch, and then go through katas.

Once Naruto had figured out that his clones could be used to learn material faster, he had wanted to spam them to accelerate his training. This was something Gai-sensei had expressively denied. While Naruto could use the clones to learn katas or jutsus, he could also pick up bad habits that would be that much harder to break. All Naruto could use clones for were spars and for reading books. Apparently Naruto was lacking in his basic academic education, so his clones were being used to pick up the slack.

"Time for a youthful spar. Lee-kun, Naruto-kun, prepare for another youthful duel. Begin!" The two boys leapt into action.

Tenten watched the boys fight. They had evolved over the course of the three months that the team had been active. Lee was a disciple of Gai-sensei's strong fist. His moves, though rather obvious and straight forward, were fast and hard. Lee was also just faster and stronger than Naruto. Part of this was being older, and part of it was eating healthily.

Naruto on the other hand was a maelstrom. Gai was teaching him how to use his clones effectively. Now, instead of swarming his opponent with clones who got in each other's way, he created a small squad that attacked with him. Utilizing Hebi Stile, Naruto attacked in a flurry of unpredictable strikes that were fast and aimed at nerve clusters and other damaging points. It was a flexible style for a flexible person. If he lasted long enough, Naruto could always out-endure Lee. Which was what was happening now.

While both boys had impoved greatly, they were still only in the basics of their styles. Except for the opening stances, as well as a few kicks and punches, the two teens weren't anywere close to being masters of their styles. Gai was a perfectionist when it came to taijutsu, so what they did know they knew well.

"Winner, Naruto!"

"Hah! You see that Bushy-Brows? I am on a role today. Naruto Uzumaki's flames of youth are burning bright today. Believe it!" He was all smiles.

"Yosh. Still, I am ahead, and I will maintain my lead. I will achieve the pinnacle of youth!" Despite being the loser, and having a nasty bruise forming on his head, Lee was happy as well. This was a rival who acknowledged him as an equal! A true friend indeed.

"What a youthful rivalry. Now for the next exercise: barrage training." Tenten grinned.

Barrage training was her favorite exercise. She would pelt the boys with an ungodly amount of wooden, blunted weapons while they tried to dodge. It raised situation awareness and dexterity among the boys, and her accuracy was shooting through the roof. Plus, it was payback for making her put up with their insanity.

"Better start running boys." (Un)fortunately, they listened. That didn't help completely though. Tenten managed to box Lee in, causing the youthful boy to take several hits while Naruto dodged the few weapons that came is way. Gai-sensei was displeased.

WHAM! Naruto reeled back from the blow. "Naruto you fool! You let your teammate be boxed in, and didn't substitute him with a clone." WHAM! Lee was also on the receiving end of a punch "And you let yourself get boxed in, you fool! You must be aware of your surroundings at all times."

Both boys began to tear up. "We are sorry Gai-sensei. We don't mean to be such fools." Gai's eyes began to water as well.

"No, it is I who is the fool. I have pushed you to hard. Oh Lee, Naruto."

The three men embraced, tears running down freely. "Gai-sensei!"

"Lee, Naruto!"

"Gai-Sensei!" In a most disturbing fashion, the three males began to float over a newly formed pool of water. There was a waterfall behind them. The spray would be caught by the sunrise (even though it was near noon), causing rainbows to form.

"ALL RIGHT, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Do your genjutsu somewhere else." The scary thing was that there were different genjutsus when different people hugged. She really didn't want to think about it.

The spandex wearing men fell apart, ending the unspeakable genjutsu. "Ack! Sorry Tenten-chan, I didn't me to do that to you." Of the three lunatics she was stuck with, Naruto was the most…well the word has to be normal, even if that didn't describe him.

While he dressed like Gai-sensei, and would often get swept up in his madness, Naruto did try to tone it down. He was always hyper, but that didn't mean he was always shouting about the powers of Youth at the top of his lungs.

On the other hand, Lee was a perfect mini-me of Gai-sensei. His clothes, his attitude, even his combat style was a complete copy of the jounin. That didn't mean he was bad, far from it. It was just rather…repetitive. Annoying sometimes. She liked her team, but they sometimes would get on her nerves.

"My youthful team, I have a new challenge for you to stoke your Flames of Youth for the Will of Fire. Today we will have our first C-Rank mission!"

"YATTA! About time we got off those stupid D-Ranks! Time to show the world how awesome we are. Race you to the tower." And there went the orange blur. And it was swiftly followed by two green blurs, one which swiftly passed the two genins. Tenten sighed; her team was insane. Still, a C-Rank would be nice.

* * *

It took a special person to be Hokage. He (or she) had to love the village, and be willing to sacrifice for it. That didn't just mean your life, it meant your time and patience while dealing with paper work. And the Hokage couldn't simply _kage bushin_ it away, because he had to be at his top shape. Hiruzen Sarutobi shuddered to think about what would have happened had Minato been using shadow clones to deal with the paperwork on the day of the Kyuubi Attack.

To many, the post seemed unrewarding. Sure, you were acknowledged as powerful, but you could do that without being a kage. On the surface, it just looked like more boring paperwork. But it was so much more than that. With every stroke of his pen he made decisions that protected the home he loved, that kept his friends and families safe. Some of those decisions were hard, some so hard they kept him up a night. But they had to be done, so why not by the person he trusted most. And there were some rewarding times.

One such time was hanging as a picture in his office. It featured a horrified Team Nine as they were given the mission of cleaning the sewer. For a month the team had only been training, mainly to correct Naruto's sabotaged information and katas. When they had come in for their first mission, they had no idea what they were getting into.

The Third Hokage sighed as he looked at the paperwork on his desk. It was during his first term that he had created the Civilian Council. It looked good on paper, the council would deal with all civilian matters during times of peace, reducing the amount of paperwork on his desk.

During his first term, and Minato's time, it had worked very well. He had less paperwork, and the civilians were much more efficient. It was after the Attack that everything went down the crapper. The civilians, hating Naruto for containing the Kyuubi, did all they could to starve him. And because Naruto was a civilian until he graduated, the Third couldn't punish them.

Now though, now he could punish them. A good part of the paperwork were fines and court reviews about the people and stores who had shortchanged, to say the least, Naruto. Ah, revenge was indeed a dish best served cold.

Ah, there was Naruto-kun now with his team. "You win this round Bushy-Brows. But one day I will surpass you!"

"Such Youth! Do not worry Naruto-kun, your flames also burn brightly. But you will have to work hard to have them burn brighter than mine."

"I will burn with more intensity than you by the end of the C-rank mission. And if I can't do that I will do 10 laps around Kohona, dattebayo." Hiruzen Sarutobi had to smile. 'It is too bad you can't see your son Minato. He is truly becoming a splendid ninja.'

Gai appeared in front of his mission desk. "Team Nine is here to request a C-rank."

The Third chuckled, idly blowing smoke rings as Lee and Naruto continued to make challenges. "Team Nine!" The group snapped to attention. "I have an escort mission for you. A caravan of mask makers is heading for Crater City, and is asking for a genin team escort. Expected opposition is none to run of the mill bandits. Do you accept this mission?"

"HAI HOKAGE-SAMA/jiji."

"Excellent. The details are on this scroll. The caravan is leaving tomorrow at eight o'clock sharp. You will be paid upon return. Team Nine, dismissed." Gai grabbed the scroll. The group about faced, and left the building.

* * *

Izumo and Kotetsu enjoyed being gate guards. It was a relaxing, easy C-rank that often led to great stories in the Chunnin Lounge. One such story was playing out now in front of them.

"Ha! I win Lee. That makes us tied at 43! I told you I will surpass you!" Lee simply smiled. Gai was ecstatic.

"Such a youthful rivalry. If only my hip-cool eternal rival was as youthful as you!" Yes, this tale would be worth many cups of sake after hours. Even that three-man hug was worth something…though that genjutsu was incredibly disturbing.

"Are you the ones who will be guarding us?" While the three look-alikes had been hugging, a small caravan had pulled up to the gate.

Gai immediately broke the hug. "That depends. Are you the mask maker caravan under Anao Tsukune?" The man smiled.

"You are speaking to him. Anyway, my caravan is traveling to Crater city to do business at the festival there. We aren't expecting any trouble, as our merchandise isn't worth anything on the black market, but we don't want bandits to try their luck on us. We expect the trip to take three days."

"I understand. Do not fear, you have nothing to worry about. My team shall protect your caravan so well not a single item shall be disturbed and if we can't do that I will run along the border of fire country ten times."

Gai was soon joined by two other voices. "And if we fail, we shall do 250 pushups with boulders strapped to our backs."

"Such Youth! Lee, Naruto!"

"Gai-sensei!

"Lee, Naruto!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"All right that's enough. It isn't youthful to cause your client to be late."

"ACK! You are right. I will take point. Naruto, send some clones off ahead to scout the area. Tenten, you are in the middle. Naruto and Lee, take the rear."

"Hai Sensei!" There were several poofs, and a dozen Narutos appeared. The clones started to run ahead, only to pause. "Ah, which way is Crater City?

Tsukune just laughed. "Why don't you stick with us until there is only one road. That way you won't get confused." The clones, and their creator, just looked sheepish. "Right, let's be off." With that, the caravan began to move.

As they passed through the gates, Naruto suddenly paused. "Is something wrong Naruto?"

Naruto blinked and smiled. "I just realized something Tenten-chan. This is the first time I am leaving the village. This is a huge step in my journey."

Tenten smiled warmly. "Hey Lee, come here." The boy hastened to comply. "Don't worry. We are Team Nine. We will take this step together."

"Yosh, do not fear Naruto-kun. We are your youthful comrades." Naruto's smile was absolutely radiant.

"Yah, we are Team Nine. Right, let's do this." The team stepped forward as one. Then took another step. And another. And then they were comfortable, walking at their own pace. Naruto's impossibly big grin got even bigger. "Yatta! Look out world, here comes Uzumaki Naruto, feature Hokage! Believe it, dattebayo!"

The inseparable chunnin pair watched the team and caravan disappear as they traveled the road. "So, what do you think?"

"I think that that team will go far in life."

* * *

"All right, we will camp here for the night." The caravan had traveled through the day, only once making a stop for lunch. Fortunately, this was light compared to Gai's training.

"Hey sensei, can we make a campfire and tell ghost stories?" Naruto looked very excited at the prospect of scaring his teammates.

Gai smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Absolutely. I will watch over the caravan."

"Yatta!" The group quickly dug out a fire hole away from the camp proper. Naruto had his clones collect dead branches for the firewood, while Tenten actually lit it. They sat down next to the flickering flames. "Since this was my idea, I get to go first. Prepare yourself for the most terrifying story ever…"

"…and that's how the story of the academy instructor from the swamp ends. Pretty scary huh?" Blinks met the end of his story.

"You find a horror story to be about a teacher who sabotages his student's work in such a way so that he can eat them scary. That was pathetic. You are scared of teachers? What next, butterflies?" Tenten looked very unimpressed.

"Hey, teachers are scary. And no, I am not afraid of butterflies. Just ghosts and…" He suddenly trailed off.

"And?"

"I don't want to say it."

"Do not fear, Naruto-kun. You can say it. I found your story rather creepy."

"But I don't want to…"

Both teammates were egging him on now. "Common. You can tell us."

"I DON'T WANT TO BE INVISIBLE!" Naruto shouted the words at the top of his lungs, startling everyone around. Now that it was out, he couldn't stop talking. "Everywhere I went, people would always do their best to ignore me. Oh sure they would get out of my way, or talk back if spoken to multiple times, but they always ignored me. Always made a point of looking away, of steering their children away. The street I live on is empty, because no one wants to live next to me.

That's why I started wearing orange. It's such a bright color. They have to notice me in it. And if I become Hokage, then they can't ignore me at all. They will have to listen. They will have to _see_ me." He started crying. Tenten and Lee looked aghast. They knew Naruto wasn't well liked by the population, but this…

Tenten made a snap decision. "I have things I am afraid of." Naruto stopped crying to listen. "I am afraid of spiders. I hate the damn things. But mostly, I am afraid of being used as a female tool. I want to be strong, like Tsunade-sama. I am afraid of being sent on seductress missions. I am afraid of being too weak to be a proper kunoichi." She looked down.

"I…I am afraid of failure. Of failing my parents. My…problem. It would normally limit my career options. But I choose to rise above expectations. I choose the hardest path. And yet…I am afraid that I may just be fooling myself. That no matter how hard I work I have already peaked, and will be unable to advance. To prove my worth. My parents have a poster for me that says "You can do it". What if I can't?"

The genins were silent, mauling over what had been revealed. Naruto straightened up. "Right, I've decided. We are going to make a pact."

"A pact?" Tenten looked up with interest that was mirrored by Lee.

Naruto nodded. "The Pact of Team Nine. We will support each other, help each other reach our goals. Make it so that we are never afraid, so we are always striving to come ahead. We will be team Nine, the group who never fails in their goals. What do you say?" He held out a hand.

"To Team Nine's Pact!" Tenten's hand was thrust on top of Naruto's.

"To a most youthful pact!" A final hand was added, and all three were raised.

Watching from a distance, Maito Gai couldn't help it. He began to cry manly tears. Truly, he had a most youthful team!

* * *

The rest of the trip passed without incident. The caravan arrived at Crater City on the morning of the third day, much to the pleasure of Tsukune. Gai decided his youthful team could use a break. "We will take a break and stay here for a night. Enjoy the youthful festival."

"HAI GAI-SENSEI!" With that, the team dispersed, pleased with the event. What could go wrong?

* * *

A busty blond felt her eye twitch. "We have a winner." This was announced by the power dealer. 'Shit.' What was going to go wrong here in Crater City?

* * *

Three men with slash marks on their leaf forehead protectors stood in front of a large group of armed men. "Men, tomorrow marks our most ambitious plan yet. We will sack Crater City, and retire with the loot. Today we are bandits, but by tomorrow, we will have the wealth of nobles." The men cheered. Nothing would go wrong for them in Crater City.


	4. Chapter 3: Crashing into Crater City

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 3: Crashing into Crater City**

Tsunade Senju was a legendary ninja. And like all legendary ninja, she had developed several sixth senses to keep her alive. Out of combat, her best indicator of approaching trouble was her gambling luck. The luckier she was, the more trouble she was in. So when she started winning at the poker table, she started to get worried.

Then she realized her wins weren't consistent. She was coming out ahead, but not by that much of a margin. Therefore, the trouble coming couldn't be that bad.

If she had known what was ahead in her future, she would have run out of the casino screaming when an orange clad blond walked up to the table and asked if he could join.

* * *

Naruto was poor. This was a fact that he had accepted long ago. So when he saw the sign "Try your luck and win big" he was hooked. Naruto entered the casino without a second thought.

"Hey kid, get out of here. Only adults are allowed to play here." A big man with ridiculously sized muscles was looking at him from behind a counter. Naruto blinked, and then pointed at the forehead protector around his waist.

"I'm a legal adult. I can and want to play here." The man looked him over.

"Fine, if you want to lose your money that bad, go ahead. You trade in your money here for chips, which you use to bet in games. I would recommend the poker table, it's the only place you will have a chance." Naruto grinned, while pulling out his toad wallet.

"Thanks man." He pulled out the few hundred ryo notes he had saved. "Don't worry little buddy. I will have you nice and full soon." The man snorted.

"Right, that's worth 500 chips. Each chip has the amount it is worth printed on it. Each chip is color coded to the amount. Have a good day." Naruto grinned, and grabbed the chips.

It took a bit of wandering, but eventually Naruto found the poker table. There were several people around it, but what stuck out most to Naruto was the very busty blond with a weird mark on her forehead and an interesting necklace, and the slightly younger woman with a pig in her arms.

Naruto sat down and asked "Hey, can I join?" He completely missed the predatory look that the blond female now sported.

"Of course sir. The anti is ten chips." Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"I see…what does that mean?" The dealer blinked as the well-endowed blond snorted.

"Do you even know how to play poker at all kid?"

"Uh…no. But I was thinking I could learn it as the game went on." The woman's grin widdened, and she decided to "inform" the genin of the rules.

"It is very simple gaki. The anti is the amount of chips you have to put in at the beginning of each hand. You are given two cards. Over the course of the hand, five cards are revealed. If you think you have a good hand, you bid chips or at least match the amount of chips others bid. If you don't, you fold, forfeiting automatically. Best hand takes the pot."

The slightly younger woman looked at her senior with a look reserved for mothers scolding children. "Tsunade-sama, you can't leave the explanation that short. It is mean and-" Naruto silenced her with a wave of his hand.

"Don't worry about it, I will figure it out. Thanks for the help, Hime." The busty blond stopped smiling. "Deal me in."

Cards were expertly sent around the table. Naruto picked up his. 'Ah, two nines? That has to be bad. Doesn't matter though, because Uzumaki Naruto doesn't give up.' He placed his ten chips in the pile, and watched as three cards were flipped up. A two, a nine, and a king were revealed. 'Ack, another nine. Must stand strong. Must stand strong.'

There were a few checks, until it came to Tsunade's turn to bid. "100." She slid the chips over. The two people between Naruto and Tsunade folded.

"I will stay in. Uzumaki Naruto doesn't back down!" With that he slid his chips into place. The woman laughed again while her assistant shot Naruto a look of pity.

"Something funny Hime?" Everyone else save one other player had folded.

"Just that you seem to think you have a chance."

Another card was revealed, a five. The remaining man folded, and Tsunade checked.

"I know I will win. I am the best, dattebayo. And besides, I have to make Gama-chan full again. 125!" The last word was a shout as he pushed the chips over, making his already small pile even smaller.

"Bring it on brat." She quickly matched him. The final card was revealed.

'Come on. Four nines? My luck can't be that bad. Ah well, got to stick to my guns.' Tsunade smiled. "250."

While Naruto had 265 left, it was basically an all-in for Naruto, and they both knew it. Tsunade, on the other hand, had chips to spare.

"You know what? All in. I am Naruto Uzumaki, feature Hokage. I won't back down now!" Naruto completely missed how the look in Tsunade's eye became a lot more dangerous.

"Reveal your cards please."

Tsunade proudly display a pair of twos. "Full house!"

Naruto flipped his cards over. "I got two nines here, what is that worth?" Tsunade blinked.

"Winner, the young lad with four nines." Naruto blinked.

"Ha, take that! I, Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage, have triumphed over the Hime! Believe it, dattebayo!" With that he scooped up the chips from a stunned audience. He then placed ten back in for the next deal.

Tsunade looked at Naruto with a more critical eye. "So you want to be Hokage, eh? Why would you want that job that is exclusively for fools?"

There was a sudden silence as Naruto whipped his head up from counting his chips. "What did you just say?"

Tsunade smirked, ignoring the cries of "Tsunade-sama!" behind her. "You heard me brat. Only fools take that job with that hat."

"You take that back you spoiled bitch. What do you know about the Hokages?" He missed the clenching of her fists.

"I know they were fools who died for a village not worth dying for. Almost every Hokage has died in the post. Sensei was a senile fool for choosing to take the job again. He should have stayed out. Now he is guaranteed to die in some stupid way trying to save a village not worth saving." WHAM! Naruto slammed his fist down on the table.

"Don't…don't you dare talk bad about Hokage-jiji. Or any of the Hokages. They knew what they were doing, what they signed up for. Kohona as damn well worth dying for. And stopped pretending you are Tsunade of the Sannin. The woman my teammate worships would be an old woman now, not some spoiled Hime. And she sure as Hell wouldn't trash talk Jiji." The younger woman gasped.

"That does it brat. You, me, outside now." The younger went to complain, mouth opening in protest. "Don't say anything Shizune." Her mouth shut as the pig squealed softly.

"Bring it on Hime. I will so beat the spoiled out of you." He crossed his fingers, and a clone poofed into existence next to him. He threw Gama-chan to the clone. "Collect my winnings while I beat up the Hime."

The clone saluted. "Kick her ass Boss." He then started to collect the pile of chips.

The threesome plus pig quickly made their way to the exit. Shizune stayed behind to convert Tsunade's chips back into cash, with Tonton staying behind as well. Why the woman was carrying a pig was beyond Naruto's ability to reason.

Soon the two reached the outskirts of the city, near one of the many forest in the Land of Fire. Shizune had soon appeared, following Tonton, who had apparently sniffed them out. Naruto made a mental note to take a long shower. It wouldn't do for a pig of all things to be able to track him by smell. That was just wrong.

"One finger. That is all I will need to kick your ass." Naruto snorted.

"Ha! Want to bet on that statement?" Tsunade grinned.

"Why yes, why not? I will use one finger, and when I win, I get all of your money." Naruto gulped at the thought of an empty Gama-chan. He would be so angry if Naruto lost. "But if you somehow win, I will give you my necklace." Shizune gasped behind Tsunade.

"I don't want no shitty necklace. I just want you to eat dirt for your words against the Hokage; against my feature position. Here I come!" With that Naruto charged at Tsunade, anger removing any form he had. She simply scoffed.

"I can't believe a Sannin like me is fighting a stupid genin like you." With that, she smashed her finger into the ground, causing a fissure. Naruto blinked, and was sent flying back, crashing next to the tree line.

'What the Hell…damn is she strong.' He quickly stood back up. He hurt, but he also often hurt after Gai's youthful exercises. "Ready to give up yet brat?"

"I am just getting started! _Kage Bushin no Jutsu_!" Five Narutos appeared, and quickly surrounded Tsunade, taking the opening stance of the Hebi style. Tsunade just blinked once, and actually took a stance of her own.

Unfortunately for the clones, Tsunade had trained along side the man who had created the style. Coupled with her impressive speed and battle enhanced senses, the clones stood no chance. Despite being proficient at the moves they displayed, all five clones were quickly dispelled with a flick of the finger, as Tsunade dodged the multiple attacks with breathtaking ease.

Naruto gritted his teeth in anger. There was no way to win with taijutsu, his primary strength. He couldn't overwhelm the Hime with clones, she had proved could handle it. So what would his team do?

Lee would release his weights…oh yah. He had his weights on. "Right, time to go to the next level!" Naruto reached down and pulled off his green weights.

Tsunade let out yet another snort. "What is that supposed to do brat?"

"THIS!" He chucked the weights in the air, creating an arc so they would land on top of Tsunade. She simply kept her eyes on the weights and moved slightly to the left as they crashed down.

Boom! Her eyes widened at the sound they made, as well as the small dent in the ground. This distraction cost her, as Naruto took the time to make another set of clones, which had rapidly closed the distance.

'I got caught doing a rookie mistake?' She quickly recovered from the few hits that got in, and flicked the clones to oblivion. The third Naruto was the original, who was sent flying again.

As the last clones were dispelled, the battered and bruised genin hefted himself back up. 'Ok, that didn't work. Lee is out. Now what would Tenten do. Wait…that could work!' He grinned, something Tsunade noticed.

"Give up brat. I am getting tired of flicking you around, and I want to have your money to drink sake." Unnoticed by the genin, Team Nine had appeared partly through the duel. Tenten was torn between watching Tsunade with awe, and lamenting Naruto's beat-down. Lee had wanted to charge in, only to be held back by Gai as Shizune explained the situation. His first clone had also arrived, and was cheering Naruto on.

"I won't back down. I am Uzumaki Naruto. I will meet any challenge in my way to be Hokage. I will one day be the strongest ninja ever! Believe it, dattebayo. _KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"_ There was a large burst of smoke. For a few seconds, nothing could be seen. Then it cleared, revealing an army of Naruto clones.

"Five hundred times zero is still zero brat." He smirked.

"Oh, I am not going to try to beat you in taijutsu. You have already proved that I can't win like that. But you see, Tenten, my teammate; well, she loves weapons. Just can't get enough to throw around actually.

You can only use one finger. So I figure, why not exploit this weakness? Create a lot of clones, and chuck a lot of weapons at her. Now I am not the best thrower, and you may be able to dodge ten. But can you dodge one hundred? Five hundred? Surrender, or face my wrath." Naruto suddenly blinked. "Ha, I had always wanted to use that line. Now do you give up?"

Tsunade gritted her teeth. "I am not going to lose to some snot nose brat like you."

"**FINE! HERE WE COME!"** Barrage after barrage of kunai and shrunken were chucked at Tsunade. The onlookers had thankfully already fled the zone of devastation. Several thousand weapons were chucked over the course of several minutes.

By the time it was over, the land surrounding the woman had turned into a zone of metal weapons. Kunai and shrunken was suck up haphazardly in the ground. The woman herself has multiple weapons sticking on her limbs, blood leaking around their entry, though she had managed to dodge or deflect the ones coming at her core. Naruto didn't notice how she was carefully looking away from her body, or down, where the blood was.

She smirked, and was about to claim victory when there was a score of poofs. Several of the weapons de-_henged_, turning into clones. Said clones quickly tackled Tsunade before she could recover, sending her to the ground. One grabbed a kunai and held it to her throat. "I win Hime."

In a normal battle, Tsunade would be far from beaten. She could easily overpower the clones, and smash their creator in. But in a normal battle, she wouldn't be reduced to one finger. One finger, which was too far away to act fast enough to prevent the slicing of her throat. Oh, she could survive that with the special technique, but it didn't matter. She also new that the brat probably didn't even have the balls to slice. But that didn't matter either, any judge would declare it a victory for Naruto. She had lost by the terms of her bet.

"Fine. If you want to die so much for that job, the necklace is yours, you damn foolish brat!" With that she ripped it off and placed it in a clone's hand. Still avoiding the sight of blood, she stood up. "Shizune, where is the closest bar? I want to get roaring drunk!" Her assistant hurried up to Tsunade, and quickly began healing the older woman.

Naruto dispelled his clones, save for the one with his money, and watched as the majority of weapons on the battlefield also went up in smoke. He quickly began to grab the rest as his teammates and the clone approached.

"Good job kicking her ass Boss! Here is the money." The clone handed Naruto Gama-chan, saluted, and dispelled.

"Naruto." The statement made him stiffen up, and face his sensei. "I am proud of you for standing up for your beliefs. And I am proud of you for beating Tsunade Senju, one of the legendary Sannin, trained by the Third himself, even with the limitation she put on herself."

'Wow, she wasn't lying? Damn, I am awesome.'

"However…" A punch rocked Naruto world. "You fool! How could you do something as unyouthful as to gamble?" Naruto began to cry.

"I am sorry sensei. I just wanted to make some money. I promise to never be unyouthful like that again." He was full out balling.

"I am so glad Naruto. Soon your flames of youth will burn brighter than ever. Oh Naruto."

"Gai-sensei."

"Oh Naruto."

"Gai sensei." Tsunade turned to look back at the brat, only to see a disturbing sight. The brat and his sensei were hugging each other and crying. What was really disturbing was how they were doing it while floating above a sea of clouds as birds flew by and the sun hanged over them.

"Damn brat…come on Shizune."

Shizune, once again holding the loyal pig Tonton, followed her mentor. 'I will need to tell him tonight about the curse of the necklace.'

* * *

Naruto and Gai released their hug. "So that was really the Tsunade that Tenten is always talking about? I thought she would be older."

"Indeed it was, Naruto-kun. That necklace you won once belonged to the First Hokage himself. That necklace could by over three mountains!" Naruto's face lit up.

"The First's! Hot damn, more proof that I will one day be Hokage. Believe it!"

That was the cue for Tenten to start pestering Naruto about her model. As Naruto tried to feed the starving wolf with being bet that Tenten was, Lee looked back over the battlefield. He then realized something. "YOSH! You may be winning now, Naruto, but I will find Tsunade-sama, challenge her, and win. Then we will be tied again!" The green clad genin ran off before Gai could consider what was just said.

"Wait Lee!" Unfortunately, the genin was already gone.


	5. Chapter 4: First Blood

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 4: First Blood**

In one of the many bars of Crater City, a busty blond was pitching back shots of sake like there was no tomorrow. Said woman was also complaining to her younger assistant, and the dressed up pig the assistant was holding.

"Damn brat." Gulp. "Wants to be Hokage." Gulp. "Has to be just like _them_." Gulp. "Has to look like _him._" Gulp. "Damn it, why did they have to die?" Gulp. "The village takes everything, and that gaki just parades right in without a care in the world." Gulp.

Shizune could only look on. She could understand Tsunade's sorrow. It wasn't easy losing your love ones, especially when you felt you were to blame. The necklace and its curse…all who had worn it had wanted to be Hokage at one point, and Tsunade was the only survivor. Only she had decided to no longer be Hokage, on the day her grandfather had died. It was at this time that Lee walked in. "AHA! There you are!" Tsunade turned in irritation towards the genin.

"What the fuck do you want?" Lee's confident smile dropped at the swearing.

"My youthful companion beat you in a youthful match. To maintain my lead of wins over him, I must now win a challenge against you." Shizune winced. Was the entire team insane?

"You won't go away until I do a challenge with you, will you?" Lee's smile grew brighter, and the light bounced off his teeth with an audible ping.

"Yosh, for it is unyouthful to back down from any challenge." This was when Tsunade got a decent idea.

"Fine. I challenge you to a drinking contest. We each take a shot until one person is under." Lee immediately sat down and ordered a shot of sake.

"Right, here I go!" Gai walked in just as Lee and Tsunade downed their whole cup in one go.

What happened next became an indescribable blur to the participants. The witnesses would recall several details, such as Lee immediately becoming drunk. Other notable occurrences was Gai being kicked in the balls by a Lee who had challenged him, several police officers getting knocked out while trying to subdue Lee, and Lee proposing his eternal love to Shizune, only to forget that he did so.

By the end of the ordeal Gai was speaking in a high voice, Shizune had a green spandex suite in her hands (it was to keep her forever beautiful and youthful), Tsunade had a much more sore ego at how much it took from her to restrain Lee (multiple nerve strikes after ten minutes of trying to pin him down) and Tonton had a taste of sake herself, which caused her to pass out. The bar was a warzone by the end, and an apologetic Gai paid out the damages.

The ruckus had attracted Tenten, who had gone looking for her idol. When she saw the out of breath Tsunade, and the destruction of the surrounding area, she wisely decided to wait a day before approaching Tsunade.

* * *

After she had cleaned up Tsunade again, it had been relatively easy for Shizune to persuade Tsunade to take the rest of the night off. Both had had a very long day.

"Ok Tonton, please find Naruto for me." Tonton oinked, and sniffed the air. Soon the pig was trotting through the city, following the distinctive smell of fox. The pair found the boy sitting outside a hotel, fingering the First Hokage's necklace.

Naruto had been thinking for a while. For him, the goal of Hokage had been an irrefutable one. He _would_ become Hokage and earn the village's respect. He _would_ protect the village, even with his life.

And then he had run into Tsunade. Someone who had been trained by the Third, who had family in First and Second. Someone who knew the Hokages, and knew them well.

And she hated the position. Hated it for claiming loved ones. She was right, every Hokage except for Jiji had died for the village. And Naruto…wasn't sure he could to the same.

So he sat outside, fingering the necklace, and wondering for the first time if he could actually achieve his dream. If he deserved to achieve his dream. He wanted to so badly…didn't he? Or was it simply a way to grab attention, to force the villagers to respect him?

"Hey." Naruto looked up to see a black-haired female holding a clothed pig. Weren't they with the Hime? Shizune, that was her name. The woman sat down. Naruto grunted in response.

Shizune watched as the boy continued to finger the crystal on the necklace, his face furrowed in concentration. "You know, that necklace has a lot more history to it than simply belonging to Tsunade." That got Naruto's attention.

"Tsunade-sama inherited that necklace from her grandfather, the First Hokage. When she was very young, she used to claim that she would be Hokage as well. Her grandfather left her the necklace in his will as an inspiration for her to achieve her dream. Instead, she gave up on it when she claimed the necklace.

She also used to have a younger brother named Nawaki. She loved him very much, and you look similar to him. When he was a genin, he also expressed a desire to be the Hokage. He wanted out of his grandfather's shadow. So, like her grandfather did for her, Tsunade-sama offered the necklace to Nawaki, who accepted. The very next day he died, and the necklace was returned to Tsunade-sama.

His death led to Tsunade-sama advocating for medically trained shinobi to be on the field. During this time she met my uncle, Dan Kato, who was also advocating for medically trained shinobi. The two began to date, and Dan revealed his ambition to be Hokage. Again she offered up the necklace. Three days later, he died a bloody death in her arms, and she once again possessed the necklace.

The necklace is cursed. Only those who don't want to be Hokage can wear it safely. The first Hokage himself died shortly after making the necklace. If you continue to wear it, you will die."

There was a long silence as Naruto thought, crystal sliding between his fingers. There had been others. Others who had wanted to be Hokage, who had died in the attempt. They had believed in the village, and sacrificed their lives for it. If they could do so, than so could he.

"I have decided-"

"So you will give the necklace back?" She held out her hand expectantly.

"No. I decided I won't give up on my dream. Thanks for warning me Shizune-neechan, but I, Uzumaki Naruto, will break this curse. Believe it, dattebayo!" With a grin, Naruto placed the necklace on his neck, and bounded up to his room, leaving a stunned Shizune behind.

"Well, we did our best Tonton." The pig merely snorted.

* * *

Crater city is a well-known city. At the start of every season, it held a festival, something the citizens were proud of. But what they were most proud of was their Thousand Man Police Force.

The Thousand Man Police Force was the most effective police force in the country, and had been ever since the Uchiha Massacre. They kept the peace in a town full of partying drunks, and solved what few crimes that did happen with relative ease. Crater City was one of the safest cities with a great police force.

Said police force was entirely unprepared, and unable to handle the organized and cutthroat bandit force that invaded that morning. Why would they be equipped to handle bandits? They were big enough to deal with small groups with ease, and not rich enough to attract the attention of the few large groups out there.

Despite that, the police force did do an admirable job of protecting the citizens of Crater City until Team 9 arrived.

* * *

The first sign for Team Nine that something was wrong were the screams as civilians ran down the street. Gai, channeling charka to his ears, was able to hear the sounds of combat up ahead. "Team Nine, prepare for combat! Lee, Naruto, take off your weights."

To his eternal pleasure, his team reacted immediately and without complaint. Lee and Naruto took off their weights and handed them to Tenten so she could seal them in the storage scroll. A determined look entered their eyes. "Let's do this."

The team took to the roofs, hopping across the sprawling buildings of crater city. Soon all could hear the signs of combat. Then it came into view.

Police officers, most only armed with batons, were clashing with bandits armed with a variety of lethal weapons. At the center, three missing nins, with Kohona headbands no less, were leading the charge.

"Naruto, use your clones to aid the officers!"

"Hai!" Fingers in the cross position, Naruto gave a mighty shout. "_KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"_ Over a hundred Naruto clones poofed into existence. Screaming war cries, the newfound army crashed into the invading forces, forcing them to a halt. Only the nuke-nin pressed onward.

THUMP! Team Nine jumped in front of the group, ready to fight. "Well, well, look what we have here Dajimu. Bunch of nut cases who think they can take us out." The one on the left, with a pair of short swords and an ugly red scar patch on his face had addressed the center one, who looked like a mummy, wrapped up in white strips.

"Indeed Akane. You and Gari take out the brats. I'll deal with the bid bad jounin. Let's show them why we left the weak village." The third nin, who looked rather porky, nodded.

"Naruto, take on Akane. Lee and Tenten, you get Gari. I'll take the leader."

"Hai sensei." The groups split off to do battle. While they began to trade blows, another pair of ninja watched from the entrance of a nearby building.

"Don't you think we should help them?"

"No Shizune. I want to see how well he does." The younger woman sighed.

"Very well Tsunade-sama."

* * *

Gai quickly rushed forward, hoping to end the fight quickly. He was forced to stop and dodge as the enemy shinobi's wrappings suddenly whipped out, slicing the air around him. Several coils cut at Gai, who weaved through the attacks but could not push forward. Gai retreated backwards, noticing the gouge marks in the ground from the wrappings.

"You like? It's my specialty, wind infused wrappings. These babies can cut through anything." Dajimu raised his hands, and several strands of wrappings lashed out at Gai. The jounin did a quick series of leaps and flips to dodge the strands. After ducking under a swing by Dajimu, Gai rushed forward, trying to get under the nuke-nin's guard. Again the wrappings around his body flew out, forcing Gai to retreat.

The cat and mouse game continued for several minutes. During this time, Gai began to notice a pattern. 'He can use his arms' wrappings at all times. However, the full body wrappings only stay active for ten seconds, and always in the same pattern. There seems to be a four second cool down. I can exploit that weakness.'

He jumped over the hand wrappings, and pressed an attack, smiling (he did not smirk, that was unyouthful) as the body wrappings flew out. Staying just outside their range, he waited until the ten seconds were up, and the wrappings were receding. 'NOW!' He pressed forward, ready to land a devastating punch-

Pain. It was all over his body. He was suddenly aware that he was on the ground, bleeding in multiple places. "You fool! You actually thought I couldn't control my body wrappings like my arms? Ha. Now die!"

He could not die here. That would be most unyouthful. "The lotus blooms twice! Gate of Opening, release!" The surge of energy in Gai's body allowed him to roll out of the way. "Gate of Healing, release! Gate of Life, release!"

"What is this madness?"

"Madness? THIS, IS, YOUTH!" With speed far beyond what he had previously displayed, Gai stood up and punched Dajimu so hard the man went through two walls. Gai gave him no reprieve, and bolted through the holes to land a vicious uppercut. As the man's body flew up Gai jumped as well, and delivered an ax kick upon decent to the nuke nin's sternum. There was a resounding crack as the ribcage shattered. Dajimu's head was grasped, and turned with a sickening snap. The body fell down, it's life extinguished.

Gai barely spared the cooling corpse a glance. He quickly closed the gates, and went off in search of his genin.

* * *

Lee and Tenten had quickly moved away to another area, staying out of their sensei's fight. Their opponent mistook their prudence as cowardice. "Aww, are the brats too afraid to play? Well, too bad for you." The man threw a slow punch at Lee, who blocked with his forearm pushing the fist upwards. Lee countered with a kidney punch that should have sent the man backwards, except nothing happened.

Lee swiftly moved out of the way of another slow punch, giving Tenten a clear shot. Several kunai went spinning towards the nin, only to bounce of the nin. Gari smiled. "I see you have discovered the futility of trying to pierce my mud armor. The hard mud on the top repels you weapons, and the soft mud below absorbs the shocks of your hits. I am invulnerable to your puny attacks."

The next minute saw a flurry of attacks by Lee and Tenten. After a few futile throws, she switched to targeting the man's eyes, figuring that the goggles he wore couldn't protect him that well. The kunai that bounced off his goggle without leaving a scratch proved otherwise. Seeing only one choice, Tenten pulled out her demolition-class exploding tag.

Gari was getting annoyed at this point. Sure, it was fun watching the kids try to break through his armor, but the damn gnats just wouldn't stay still. He was bored, and it was time to end this. Weaving through the hand signs with surprising speed, Gari shot a ball of compressed water out at Lee.

Lee saw this, and quickly moved out of the way. The ball of water continued forward, hitting Tenten directly in the stomach, having been right behind Lee. Tenten doubled over, her hand releasing the note in Lee's direction. Gari moved forward in the biggest burst of speed he had displayed, grabbing Tenten by the throat and hoisting her upwards.

"Now you die little girl." Tenten struggled to break the hold, but was unable to. Lee saw the events with horror spreading across his face. Then the demolition note fluttered down in front of him. Lee seized it like a lifeline.

Lee knew the basics of exploding tags, something Tenten loved to use. He knew this was a powerful one, one she refused to use in practice. So he closed his eyes, and concentrated. He felt the flow of his chakra, wild and unmolded. He pulled and pulled and prayed. A hissing sound made him open his eyes.

The tag was lit! With renewed gusto, Lee slammed the tag into Gari's back, and immediately headed for a safe distance. "Ha, you think that will-"

The resulting explosion was huge. Lee, a good ten meters away, felt the heat from the blast, and was rocked by the shockwave. "TENTEN!"

Tenten was lucky; Gari's body shielded her from the worst damage. She was still sent flying through the wall that Gari had pinned her up against. By the end of her flight, both her shoulder blades were broken and she was covered in splinters. But she was gloriously alive, and that was what mattered. Gai, who had heard the explosion, soon arrived and began to help Tenten.

It would be another day before the full implications of the event would hit them.

* * *

Naruto quickly created several more clones and charged with them at his opponent, who readied his two short swords. Naruto closed the distance, and launched a flurry of attacks. His opponent expertly weaved around the attacks, only taking a few grazes while slicing his opponents to oblivion. The original took a slice on the back of his left hand, and retreated.

The guy was fast. Not Tsunade fast, but much faster than he was. He was good at dodging, and moved the swords with great fluidity. He was dangerous.

Naruto fell back, unknowingly heading towards the two women watching them. Naruto quickly created another set of clones. While he and several clones held of Akane, two fell back to set up some traps. The moment they were done they dispelled, causing Naruto to fall back. It looked like his time as a prankster would pay off!

He fell back, and jumped over the tripwire. Akane, in his hurry, ran straight through the tripwire and towards the next squad of clones, only to be caught off guard as a large volley of kunai and shrunken flew towards him.

In a great show of swordsmanship, he managed to dodge or deflect the majority of the projectiles, only taking a shrunken to the leg. He then dispatched the other clones.

Naruto was panting at this point. He felt weak, tired. His vision was starting to blacken around the edges. Akane laughed. "So you are finally feeling the effect of my Black Seed Poison? I was wondering if I had actually hit you. Soon, you muscles will completely seize as your chakra coils are constricted and cut off." He looked at the two women, clearly no longer regarding Naruto as a threat.

"Well, look what we have here. Some fine women who are going to keep my comfortable tonight, oh yes inde-ow! Fuck!" Shizune and Tsunade had readied themselves to fight (and really, they could take these guys out without breaking a sweat), when a kunai planted itself in Akane's left shoulder blade, causing him to drop the short sword in his left hand. "You little brat! Stay down!"

Naruto had picked himself up. His vision was swimming and he felt so weak, but he wasn't going down without a fight. "I am Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage. A Hokage has to protect his people at any cost. So if I must give up my life to do so, then I will do it gladly!" The genin grabbed a kunai with his right hand, and cut bellow the slice in his hands. "I swear so on my own blood! I will protect the people here!"

Missing Tsunade's cries of "Blood." Naruto charged forward. Akane bellowed in response, and launched his own charge. He held his remaining sword in both hands, readying for a swift plunge.

Naruto saw the blade coming in slow motion. He knew he had little time left. If he dodged fell back, he could at best only wound the man. His next action had to be fatal to his opponent. So he shifted his body slightly lower, and forced the blade through him, and stabbed. As the sword went through his lower shoulder, just three centimeters above his heart, his kunai buried itself in his opponent's own heart. "You…brat." The man collapsed, releasing his sword and leaving Naruto standing there.

"Hey, is that you, Shizune-neechan?" Naruto collapsed.

"Naruto!" Shizune ran forward. "Tsunade, I need your help. I can counter the poison, but he will bleed out. I need you here. Now!"

Tsunade wasn't seeing Naruto bleed out. She was seeing her younger brother, Nawaki, the one she never had a chance to even try to save. Before meeting Naruto, she had sometimes dreamed about being there, about saving her brother. She began to superimpose the two. 'Nawaki, I have to save Nawaki.'

The medical Sannin lurched forward, and began to treat her patient.

* * *

Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, slept peacefully in his cage. Until the first time its host called upon his chakra, the great beast would be forced to sleep by the seal. And so he slept, and dreamt. Sometimes it was good times, sometimes it was bad. But he was always dreaming.

He was smaller, younger, and standing in front of his now deceased father, the Sage of Six Paths. "Kurama, I am dying. You know it and I know it. I also know that humanity will soon revert back to their wiring ways.

Kurama, you have to look after your siblings and humanity. Do not lose hope, for one day a savior will be born, and you will be linked to him. One day-" The sage disappeared, and Kurama howled in sorrow. Then everything began to turn black. For the first time in his life Kurama felt fear.

Eventual, light came back, and his dreams continued. Still, it was a long time before the beast could sleep peacefully again.


	6. Chapter 5: Repercussions

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 5: Repercussions**

Team Nine may have emerged victorious from the Battle of Crater City, but they certainly didn't come out without any scraps. Maito Gai nearly died from blood loss, with the opening of the gates accelerating the bleeding from his wounds. Tenten had two broken shoulders, an infection, and bruised ribs. Naruto had received a deadly poison and had an artery above the heart cut open. Only Lee came out with no dangerous injuries.

Tsunade and Shizune tended the team, nursing them back to full health. The first to recover was Naruto. He was ecstatic over his first victory, loudly proclaiming about how it was worthy of a future Hokage. Gai soon followed, and celebrated his most youthful team's victory. Tenten was the longest one in recovering, and was torn between worshiping her idol and being repulsed by her drinking and gambling habits. And Lee, well Lee just cleaned up the bar he wrecked, swearing to never have alcohol again.

During this time several things happened. The first was Tenten asking Tsunade if she could teach her anything. Tsunade decided to test Tenten chakra control, and discovered she was had abysmal control. In the end there was little she could teach, just basic acupuncture with sebon. She still encouraged Tenten to follow her dream of becoming a strong kunoichi.

The second event was when Tenten pulled Lee over in an open area, with the rest of the team and Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton watching. "Lee I want you to follow these instructions on the book." Lee looked dubious, but complied. Soon he had drawn a perfect basic sealing seal on the scroll, the most basic type of seal. He stopped there.

"Well go on." Lee shrugged, and challenged some chakra into the seal with the brush on top. Chakra he could not mold. So it was a great surprise to him, as well as to Gai and Naruto, when the brush was sealed in the scroll. "Congratulations Lee, you can do sealing." (**1**)

Gai was beyond joy. He and Lee began crying manly tears of youth, hugging each other all the while. Lee could seal, like the Fourth! It was great. Tsunade slipped away, only to return with a book for Lee. It was called, oddly enough, So you aren't a genius? Fuinjutsu for your average Joes. The author called himself the Gallant Jirayia. Lee began to read the story with great gusto, enthusiastic about this new avenue for training.

The third event was when Tsunade declared that she would accompany them back to Kohona, to "make sure they didn't die of complications." Naruto thought it was sweet, and said as much. He was flicked through several walls, and got up grinning. "I knew you couldn't resist me." Tenten spent the rest of the afternoon laughing while Lee and Gai applauded Naruto's youthful training method as he ran for his life from an irate Tsunade. Shizune packed, and Tonton…well, no one paid attention to Tonton.

Soon, it was time for the team to go home. This led to the fourth and final event. As the team was leaving, the city's mayor intercepted them. "On behalf of Crater City, I would like to thank you for saving our city. We took the liberty of cashing in your bounties. Here are the rewards." Naruto's eyes lit up at the cash. Gama-chan was going to be full for a long time.

"Thank you for doing such a thing, mayor-san." The middle aged man nodded.

"Oh, and one other thing. We are going to have a new annual festival to commemorate the event. To do so properly, we need to know who saved us." Team Nine grinned as one.

"We are Team Nine. Jounin commander: Gai Maito. Genin apprentices: Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee, Hasuwada Tenten." With that, the Battle of Crater City, a two day festival, was born.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen had seen a lot through his life. He had been surprised by many things, and had learned how to keep the surprise in check, to make it appear as if he knew everything. So he remained passive when Team Nine entered the mission office, over a week late from their mission.

"Hey Jiji, you will never guess what happened." The Third Hokage opened his mouth to enquire, but stopped when he noticed Naruto's appearance. Specifically the necklace he wore. 'Is that the-'

"Hey sensei, I'm back." Hiruzen's pipe fell out of his open mouth.

* * *

Naruto could not help it. He laughed at the Hokage's slack-jawed expression. The old man was never surprised…well, except for his anti-pervert attack. That had caught the old man off guard. He didn't even notice how quiet the room had gotten.

"Tsunade-chan. You, the necklace…what happened?"

"The Gaki happened." Tsunade ignored Naruto's protests about being a gaki. "Little brat called me out in a duel and…_andwonmynecklace_." Hiruzen smirked.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you. Could you say it louder?" Tsunade's eye began to twitch.

"Ah, don't worry about it Hime. I beat you like I beat Jiji, with trickery." The twitch had switched people.

"Really? Ha! How did the Gaki beat you? I at least had a handicap; one finger allowed. What is your excuse?"

Hiruzen opened his mouth to retort, only to be beaten by Naruto. "Ah, he's just an old pervert. He has that same orange book Kakashi is always reading, so I just used my anti-pervert jutsu." Now two people had twitching eyes.

"Sensei…are you reading my perverted teammate's books?" The old man was sweating now.

"Well, they are well written. And do have a good plot. Anyways, do you want to look over the hospital and medical programs, to add your input. Since the peace, we have implemented your original idea."

"I know what you are doing sensei, but I will let you off the hook this time. Yes, I think I would like to." The Third nodded, mostly in relief.

"Cat!" A cat-masked ANBU appeared. "Please escort Tsunade and her assistant to the medical records. Full clearance."

"Hai Hokage-sama." The mask wearing woman bowed. "Please follow me Tsunade-sama."

The group left. Hiruzen turned to Gai. "Give me a full debrief."

So Gai talked. He talked about the actual mission, and how nothing had occurred save some youthful team bonding. He talked about how he decided to give his team a day of in Crater City. About how Naruto ran into Tsunade, challenged her, and won. How Lee had gotten drunk and caused a huge mess. How the bandits led by the missing nins attacked, and how his team defeated them. Finally, he talked about the aftermath.

"Well, it appears congratulations are in order. Team Nine, outstanding work in Crater City. I am writing down the defense as an unplanned B-rank mission. You will be compensated for your hard work. Well done."

"Thank you Hokage-same/jiji."

"Team Nine, you are dismissed for the rest of the day." The team saluted, and marched out. "Ah, your son is already making waves. You would be so very proud of him."

* * *

Two months passed as the team continued to train. Lee became the teams fuinjutsu user. He couldn't be called an expert by any means, or even at an intermediate level. Despite his discovered ability, and decent talent in the arts, he had little means to improve his skills. Most of his learning had to be done from reading, and he had little time with all the training Gai was giving him. Despite that, he could now make blood sealing scrolls, the standard for ninjas, and level one and two explosive notes, much to Naruto's and Tenten's delight.

Naruto had further improved his basics. He could now do a kawarimi without hand seals (something he had realized he should have used in his fight with the swordsman), and was working on the explosive tags variant. His taijutsu style had also improved, with Tsunade occasionally providing helpful tips.

Tenten, having already reached her maximum potential for accuracy, was now focusing on the speed and power of her throws. The end result was that she could throw out a lot more weapons with a lot more force. She had also learned basic herbal medicine from Shizune, and was considering dabbling in poisons.

"My youthful team, it is time to rest for the night. Tomorrow we shall undertake another C-rank mission. This one is simple, we will be demonstrating for the newest class in the academy. Now go get some rest."

"HAI GAI-SENSEI!" The group dispersed.

"Awesome. I will get to see Iruka-sensei again!"

* * *

"SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET!" Naruto winced has Iruka's head swelled to enormous proportions, bellowing out his command. The room went silent.

"Today class we have some special visitors. Please welcome Team Nine, led by Gai Maito, who teaches Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee, and Hasuwada Tenten. They will answer any questions you have, and then demonstrate some of their abilities outside."

BANG! The door flung open as a kid with a ridiculously long scarf came running in. The scarf predictably went under the kid's foot, and he tripped. Iruka could only groan as Konohamaru picked himself off of the ground. "Who tripped me?" He spotted Naruto, who was closest. "It was you. Admit it, you tripped me!"

Naruto grabbed the kid by his shirt, pulling him slightly upward. "Listen punk, you tripped over your own damn scarf. Don't go accusing people of stuff they didn't do." Konohamaru smirked.

"You won't hurt me. I am the Third's grandson." Naruto blinked, than backhanded the kid to the floor.

"I don't care if you're the Third grandson or his father. You accused me of something you did to yourself, and you didn't sneak into Iruka-sensei's class when you were late like I did so I didn't disrupt class. Now get to your seat."

The surprised grandson picked himself up and walked to his seat, unusually subdued. Iruka cleared his throat. "Right, who has a question?"

Many hands were raised as kids clamored for attention. Iruka called on one student. "How long have you been a team?"

"Six months." Lee answered first.

"How strong are you?"

"They are at C-rank, which is rather high for the amount of time this team has formed." Gai.

"Have you beaten up any bad guys?"

"Why yes, we have. We even saved a city in the process." This wasn't strictly true, as Tsunade and Shizune could have easily laid waste to the enemy force.

"What are your goals?"

Naruto had to answer first. "I am going to be Hokage!"

"No you aren't, that's what I am going to be." Naruto turned, and faced Konohamaru.

"Oh? And why will you be Hokage?"

"Because I am being taught the shortcuts to become Hokage."

"You FOOL!" Naruto slammed a fist down upon Iruka's desk, and then began to pace in a way reminiscent of his chunnin instructor. "There are no short cuts to the Hokage hat. It is a long journey, a hard journey. To be Hokage, you have to be strong. You have to be smart and cunning. But above all else, you have to be willing to sacrifice."

Naruto unzipped his orange spandex slightly, and pulled his left shoulder covering down, exposing the scar there. "This scar I got in my last fight. I had been poisoned earlier, and was feeling the effects. I knew that in a few moments, I would be incapacitated, unable to help the civilians in the city. So I charged him, and forced my body to be impaled all the way through his sword so I could kill him. If it weren't for the fact that two of the greatest medical shinobi ever produced by Kohona happened to be literally two meters from me, I would have died there. I fully expected to do so.

So until you are will to sacrifice everything, you can never be Hokage." Iruka could only look upon Naruto with pride. 'You have grown so much my student.' Gai was on the verge of crying manly tears, but was stopped by Tenten sending him a heated glare. There would be a time to celebrate the youthfulness of his team, but not right now. Lee was in the same boat.

The class asked a few more questions, but the impromptu speech Naruto had given had caused everyone to be a little subdued. Soon it was time for the demonstrations.

* * *

The class made its way out to the training field. In the sparing ring, Lee and Naruto had a duel. Naruto showcased his ability to use shadow clones, while Lee displayed his superior speed and strength. Naruto proved himself victorious. Tenten rounded up the demonstration by showing of her accuracy, and then causing the last target to explode with a tag. Needless to say, the kids were greatly awed by the explosion, coupled by the fact that she did not look at it.

Class ended, and the team separated, each headed home for the evening. It was along his walk home that Naruto first noticed the square rock that was following him. "Alright, I know you are under there. Rocks aren't square, and they don't have eyeholes. Come out."

There was a bang, and a bunch of smoke emerged from the box. "Koff, koff, I think we used to much gunpowder." Konohamaru and two other kids emerged from the smoke.

"I know who you are, but who are your friends?"

The boy with the sleepy look pointed to himself. "I'm Udon, and I like math."

"I'm Moegi, the most beautiful kunoichi around." That was the girl with orange hair that poofed upwards in two cones.

"What do you guys want?"

"We want you to be our boss, the boss of the Konohamaru Corps!" Naruto thought about it for a few seconds.

"Sure, that sounds awesome. Follow me to training ground nine, and I will show you a lifesaver of a move."

* * *

Naruto surveyed the academy students. "Alright, it has been several hours, and you guys seem to have it down. Let's take a break." Konohamaru flopped down onto the ground.

"Thanks Boss." Naruto simply waived him off.

"Don't mention it." The two sat in silence for a short time. Nearby, Udon and Moegi were talking. "Say, why do you want to be Hokage."

Konohamaru looked down. "People don't see me as Konohamaru. They see me as the Third's grandson. It is always "honorable grandson" to me. I want to become Hokage to prove that I am Konohamaru, and not simply his grandson."

Naruto understood. He had wanted to be Hokage at first to become acknowledged. Now he had a different reason, but he could still understand. "You know, you don't have to be Hokage to be acknowledged. When you shoot for the hat, make sure it is for the right reasons."

"Don't worry boss, it will be."

"Good. Because when you become my rival for the hat, I want it to be for the right reason." Konohamaru blinked. Then understanding filled his face.

"A rival eh? Fine, from now on we are rivals for the Hokage hat!" Naruto simply smiled.

Suddenly, a jounin with sunglasses and a black coat leapt among the group. "There you are honorable grandson. I have been looking for you all afternoon. What have-"

"Ebisu-sensei, look what we can do!" The three students stood up, and went through five hand seals. There were three poofs, and logs appeared in their place.

"You learned the kawarimi? How?" The shock was evident.

"I taught them." Ebisu pushed up his glasses with his index finger.

"I see. Well…thank you. Come on, it's time for you to head home."

Konohamaru nodded. "Yah, I guess it is time. Thanks for the lessons Boss."

"No problem." With that, Naruto left for home.

* * *

Kabuto was a good spy. So when he heard Tsunade was back, he immediately sent off reports to the many men who thought he was their spy, and to the one he truly was a spy for. After all, a good spy keeps on top of unexpected events.

Kabuto was a man with plans. With Tsunade taking over the hospital and looking over the medical corps, he had to be more careful. He also had to have new escape plans in place. "Tsunade-sama would like to speak with you Kabuto." Kabuto already had several plans ready to be used at a moment's notice when he was summoned by Shizune.

"I will be right there." The spy for many people, but truly for only one, followed the jounin to her masters office. She knocked twice on the door.

"Enter." Kabuto entered, and allowed a little apprehension to show on his face. After all, the Kabuto of the leaf was a nervous boy. "Sit down." Kabuto complied.

"Stop looking so nervous, I did not send for you to reprimand you. Far from it. I have been looking over your file, and I think you have the potential to be a great medical shinobi. That is why I am offering you the chance to be my apprentice."

The surprise on Kabuto's face was real. He had never expected this to happen. But like any good spy, he knew how to change a surprise into an advantage. "I would be honored to be your student Tsunade-sensei."

* * *

"I have intercepted the spy, Leader-sama. He did not make contact with the Toad Sage like he planned to. It appears the Sage was too busy trying to find his teammate when she dropped of his grid. How ironic. The Kohona spy master couldn't find his teammate in his own village, the one place where he has no spies, and thus no information. We had no exposure."

"Good. We won't need to push up our timetables. Our designs remain hidden to the world. Itachi, Kisame, you no longer are to pursue the Ninetails. All Akatsuki forces are to continue bounty hunting to generate money. This meeting is over."

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**(1): Lee's disability renders him unable to mold chakra. This makes ninjutsu and genjutsu something beyond his reach. He is still able to expel chakra though. Fuinjutsu uses ink symbols to mold chakra itself. All it requires generally is a source of chakra. Since Lee isn't doing any of the molding himself, he is able to wield fuinjutsu. However, since really advanced fuinjutsu, as well as the majority of Uzumaki seals require hand seals to mold the chakra prior to activating the seals, Lee will be unable to progress beyond the beginnings of expert level. He can never become a master, and only an expert through the speed and precision at which he creates lower level seals.**


	7. Chapter 6: Making a Wave

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 6: Making a Wave**

Team Nine, over a year old since its formation, entered the mission room, and smirked as they saw a team flinch as they were assigned the retrieve Tora mission. "Aha, there you are my Eternal Rival! And this must be your team."

At those words, Lee and Naruto scrutinized the team. The jounin commander had silver hair that defied gravity. A mask and headband covered the majority of his face. A lazy eye was reading an orange book. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Gai looked outraged.

Two boys dominated the team, each with black hair. One's was shaped like a duck's ass in Naruto's opinion, while the other's had no personality. The duck-butt looked rather uninterested, and the plain boy had a fake smile.

And then he saw her. She was like an angel, with beautiful pink hair and a lovely, wide forehead. She was perfect, such hair belonged to the goddess of beauty. That wasn't to say that Tenten was pretty, she was, but she didn't have this perfect hair. It was brighter than his! He leaped forward, startling the beauty as he landed in front of her.

"Hi, my name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I find you very beautiful. Will you go out with me?" A tick mark appeared on her face.

"NO WAY YOU CREEP!" She decked him, sending him crashing into the ground. "I only have eyes for my Sasuke-kun." The duck-butt purposefully ignored said eyes. Lee looked disapointed, realizing that he didn't have a chance either.

"What a youthful attempt. Unfortunately, it was not to be." Naruto agreed, and completely missed Tenten's annoyance. "I see you have met one of my youthful students, Naruto. He is the last person to graduate early from the academy."

Suddenly, Sasuke's gaze was upon him. The jounin was also looking him over, and Naruto realized he was being seized up.

"You…I want to fight you." Naruto shrugged.

"Sure, I will answer any challenges. Just let my team get our mission." That seemed to snap Gai out of his annoyance at his rival's hip-cool attitude.

"Team Nine is requesting a C-Rank mission." The old man nodded.

"I have just the thing. Tazuna-san, please come in." An elderly man, who clutched a bottle of sake like it was his life line, walked in. "Team Nine, your mission is to escort Tazuna-san back to his country and to protect his bridge while it is being built from a possible bandit attack. Do you accept your mission?"

"HAI HOKAGE-SAMA/jiji" The bridge builder looked them over.

"So I am to be protected by the freak squad? Are you sure they can handle this?" Gai simply laughed.

"Worry not. My most youthful team is quite capable of defending you. We have already been through a B-Rank fight." The man's eyes widened.

"Good. I will be leaving tomorrow at eight in the morning. Be there." The slightly drunk man left. Sasuke was even more interested in a fight.

"Let us go outside so we can fight." The groups left the tower, and quickly headed for an unused field.

Kakashi was the referee for the match. "This is a standard spar between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. There will no fatal blows or maiming. You stop when I say stop, or when an opponent surrenders. Ready…begin!"

As Kakashi leapt backwards, Sasuke charged forward, ready to use his Interceptor Fist…he was on the ground, staring at the sky. A fist was pointed at his forehead, while another hand held his shirt. What the Hell had happened?

Sakura could only gasp. Her Sasuke-kun had been defeated, and badly too. How was this possible? Sia simply maintained his false smile. "Well, it looks like Dickless lost, eh Ugly?" Sakura shot him a very evil look that even made the lazy jounin cringe.

"Winner, Naruto."

Naruto stood up. "Your stance was good, but you were much to slow. And your eyes…they hold only hatred. You cannot get strong on hatred alone."

"What do you know?" Sasuke spat out the words. "All I have left is my vengeance against the man who killed my family in front of me. I have to hate him, I have to grow stronger through my hatred. It is all that I am."

Naruto shook his head. "You fool, hatred can only get you so far. If we had fought a year ago, you would have beaten me as cleanly as I beat you. But then I became a part of Team Nine. I found friends, and a reason to grow stronger. And grown I have. You could do the same."

Sasuke shook his head. "I can't have any more people who I care about. Not while that man is still alive. Otherwise…he will take them away from me. Only in my hatred am I, and the rest of you, safe." Naruto blinked, and walked away. What could he sat to a statement like that?

While this had been happening, Gai and Kakashi had their own silent conversation. A nod from Kakashi. "You have done well in training him." A tilt of the head. "Thank you. He will be yours soon." An eye smile in acknowledgement.

"Come along Team Seven. We have a cat to catch." The team left the training field.

"Well done Naruto. Team Nine, you have the rest of the day off. Prepare for your mission."

"HAI-SENSEI!"

* * *

Kabuto walked into a lab, looking for his sensei. "Ah, Tsunade-sama, I have a question for you." The Sannin just grunted. "I was wondering, how does one treat a continuous disease that you can't remove?"

"Seals."

Kabuto blinked twice. "Seals…" Why hadn't he thought of that? Seals could be applied to treat the patient. They would need to be updated over periods of time, and could be disrupted, but they could work. This was the answer he was looking for, the answer he had apprenticed himself under Tsunade to receive. His master would be so proud. "Thank you." He turned to leave. There would be some researching to do, but he did have some time.

Bang! The door flew into the wall. "Hey Hime, Kabuto-niisan."

"Brat, don't do that! You are disrupting my research. Now, why are you here?" Naruto looked apologetic.

"Sorry. I am going out on another C-rank, and this one may last a while. So I came to say goodbye. And Kabuto, remember to take care of Shizune-neechan, or else." Kabuto nodded.

It had come to him as a surprise when Shizune had asked him out on a date. He had agreed, feeling he could use the assistant as a way to get closer to Tsunade.

They were partly through the movie at Shizune's house when Naruto burst in. He was demanding to speak to Kabuto in an attempt to warn him against hurting Shizune, only to be temporarily paralyzed by Shizune's sebon. She had then explained how she was the one who asked him out, and that she could take care of herself just fine. She then grabbed Naruto and threw him out the door, leaving the poor boy hepless on the ground until a passing by ninja removed the sebon.

Naruto had run into Kabuto several times since the incident, and generally reminded the silver-haired medic of the threat, despite not fully getting said threat out. Still, over time he had warmed up to the faux genin, and started calling him Kabuto-neesan.

Kabuto actually liked the Kyuubi container. He was so sure of who he was, despite his complete lack of a background. He defined himself, something Kabuto had trouble doing. Kabuto would actually be somewhat sorry when the kid died.

"I remember Naruto-kun. Don't worry, I won't harm her." Tsunade, on the other side of the room, looked rather happy.

"Excellent. So you will be out of my hair for a few weeks Gaki? I haven't heard better news all month." Naruto scowled.

"Just you wait. In a few days you will be sending me letters begging the future Hokage to come home." With that, he marched out of the room to tell his other friends, and the Konohamaru corps, that he was leaving. Kabuto soon left to do some research on seals. He had heard that Jirayia had written a book on seals. Maybe he should look at it. It would be like being trained by all three Sannin.

* * *

Naruto awoke to his alarm clock in his apartment. The first thing he saw was a poster of "You can do it." Lee was right, it was a good poster. He turned off his alarm, and stretched. He watered the many plants in his room, and washed up. After eating a breakfast, (ramen with vegies, he was allowed to indulge today because it was the start of a C-rank mission, and he was greatful to Gai-sensei for showing him how to eat properly) he headed outside.

* * *

Tenten sleepily hit her alarm, turning it off. She looked around her room, and harvested some of the petals from her plants to make her herbal cures and poisons. She then stowed them away in one of the storage seals Lee had made, and prepared herself for the mission. In under thirty minutes, she was out the door.

* * *

Lee got up to the sound of his alarm clock. With a cry of "Youth!" he rapidly showered and changed. His room was full of books on taijutsu and fuinjutsu. A sound seal was on his door, placed so he wouldn't bother his parents with his exoberent shouting. There was an expensive weight system in one corner of the room.

Lee hurried downstairs to his mother's cooking. After a quick meal, he rushed out. He would be first to the gate, and if he couldn't, he would 100 double-clap finger pushups.

* * *

Tazuna was drinking when he arrived at the gate, where Team Nine had already assembled. "Right…let's get this over with." With that underwhelming start, the mission began.

The team had been walking for several hours when Tenten spotted the first sign of trouble. 'There is a puddle lying in the middle of the road when it hasn't rained for several days. It's a trap.' "Enemies!" She quickly armed two kunai with explosive tags and chucked them at the puddle. A pair of nins jumped out of the range of the explosives, and the genjutsu puddle faded.

"Get the brats!" The men were armed with a pair of claws connected by a chain. They wore gas masks and had slashed Mist headbands on. The two charged, only to be quickly taken out. The larger was knocked out by a swift kick from Gai, while Lee, supported by Naruto and a bunch of his clones, mobbed the other.

The fight, if it could be called that, had lasted a mere twenty seconds. "What a most youthful fight! Naruto, create some clones to send these nins to Kohona for interrogation."

"And let me get those claws, they look useful." Tenten added.

"Hai sensei!" Several more clones poofed into existence. "Lee, can you place some chakra suppression seals on them?" Lee quickly drew up the seals, and slapped them on the navel of each captured nin. Tenten had already taken the claws, and was removing the chain and changing them to fit one person. "Thanks." The clones then hoisted the men, threw them over their shoulders, and began to run towards Kohona.

"Wow, you lot are good." Tazuna had a surprised, and slightly worried face.

Gai smiled. "Indeed. Now, let us continue onward."

* * *

After a couple of hours of traveling, the group came upon a man with a boat waiting for them. "We will cross here. Oh and could you be quiet, my friend has sensitive hearing."

"Sure Tazuna." Naruto whispered. The man had a strained smile that no one noticed. "Wow is it misty. Holy Shit!" Through the mist, a giant bridge could be seen.

"It is super amazing isn't it? That is my bridge." Tazuna had a touch of pride in his voice. The group soon reached the other side.

"Right, off you go. And good luck." The boatman let them disembark from his boat.

"Thanks, but I doubt there will be any situation where we will need luck." Naruto struck a nice guy pose, and then left with his team.

* * *

The group continued onward. "So Tenten, you think you got the hang of those claws?"

She nodded. "Yah. I removed the chain, that is useless for one person. The claws are dipped in poison, so that is nice. The fingers are flexible, so I can still throw, I just need some practice while wearing them. Say, Gai-sensei, do you know any good styles that incorporate claws?"

Gai nodded. "The Raging Fox style should suite you well. It is-GET DOWN!"

Everyone threw themselves to the ground, with Gai forcing Tazuna to the ground. A massive sword flew over their head, imbedding itself in a tree. On top of the sword was a massive man, whose lower face was covered in wraps.

The man was about to speak when he was interrupted. "Oh my God it is the legendary sword Kubikiribocho want it I want it!" Tenten was speaking so fast she appeared unable to breathe, not taking a single pause in her run on sentence. The girl lurched forward, hands stretched out as if to grab the sword. She was quickly tackled by her two teammates.

"No Tenten, you can't take the sword until after we have beaten him."

"Yosh, and stealing is most unyouthful!" Zabuza was getting annoyed at how they didn't even seem to notice his killing intent.

"So I take it you lot won't just step aside and let me kill the bridge builder?" That caused everyone to look at him.

"Eh? Why would you want to kill the drunk?" Zabuza blinked, and then faced Tazuna.

"They don't know? You didn't tell them? Ha! This man has the biggest bounty in Wave for building his bridge."

"Aye…I am the bridge builder. You see, Wave has been taken over by a corrupt business man: Gato. He has been squeezing us dry and moving in with illegal business. He has sabotaged our boats, crippling our trade. If I can complete my bridge, it will break his blockade, and end his economic stranglehold on my country. But we are too poor to afford a proper mission, all the entire country could pay for was a C-Rank. So we tricked you."

Gai just simply smiled and struck the nice guy pose. "Do not worry Tazuna-san. We forgive you for lying. We will liberate your country from the unyouthful Gato." He then pulled out a set of special nunchaku. It was a well-crafted weapon, with the handles craved in the likeness of a dragon. "I will duel the Zabuza and his Kubikiribocho with my Soshuga."

Zabuza merely laughed, and made a hand sign. "_Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu."_ The man vanished into the mist. "There are eight lethal-" The was a sound of something striking water, then water falling, then nothing.

The real Zabuza blinked. His water clone was already destroyed? His opponent was more dangerous than he had thought. Best take out the bridge builder quickly and not try to claim a bounty. How was this guy not in his personal bingo book? He stealthily headed towards the bridge builder, who was being guarded by the brats. "Got-hurk!"

He fell back, having been hit in the stomach by Gai's weapon. How was this man finding him? He was a master at silent moving! He dodged two more strikes from the jounin, and then swung with his sword. The man duck, and fell back slightly. Zabuza then realized something. His opponent had his eyes closed. He was used to fighting without his vision.

He ended the jutsu, realizing it was just costing him chakra. "Gai-sensei, the mist has cleared." The man opened his eyes.

"I must commend you. You are the first to fight me as an equal in my mist. Now the true duel begins." Throwing stealth to the wind, Zabuza attacked. He thrust and swung his sword, only for his opponent to dodge and deflect, and then launch his own attack. This jounin was damn good.

He tried to weave hand signs, but had to break off when the Jounin quickly attacked. This was growing troublesome. Suddenly the man shouted "Gate of Life: Open!" The jounin's speed suddenly increased greatly. Zabuza was on the defensive.

"Tenten, cut him off." It was one of the twerps. A rain of kunai, hissing with explosive notes, flew overhead and landed behind Zabuza, forcing him forward. He charged desperately, only to be knocked out with a blow to the head. The battle was over.

Tenten ran for the sword, only to be stopped when a hunter nin jumped out. "Thank you for taking down my quarry." Two sebon flashed out of the hunter's hands, and into Zabuza's neck. "Now I must take my quarry back to my village."

"Oi, you can't just do that. He was down, he wasn't a threat. You can't just kill a downed opponent like that, it is wrong." Gai looked at Naruto sadly.

"Naruto-kun, sometimes the orders are to kill someone, no matter what. It is part of the shinobi way."

"I don't like it."

Tenten started to head for the sword again, only to be halted by the hunter nin. "My quarry includes the sword."

"Let it go Tenten-chan. Besides, that sword so totally doesn't fit your style. It is way to heavy. I'll bet you have trouble even lifting it." Tenten pouted, but reaized Naruto was right.

Lee approached the hunter. "Are you in need of any sealing scrolls? I can create one really fast." The hunter shook his head.

"No, I am fine." He grabbed the body, and disappeared into the forest. Gai closed the first gate, and the group continued walking to Wave. None of them, not even Tenten, realized that the sebon hadn't killed Zabuza.


	8. Chapter 7: Ripples in the Wave

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 7: Ripples in the Wave**

Team Nine approached a house hidden in the woods. Tazuna went up, and opened the door. "I'm back everyone, and I brought along some super ninjas to help." There was a clanking sound, as pots hit counter, and then a beautiful young looking woman appeared.

"Tousan!" She embraced the older man. "I am so glad you are safe." She then turned to Team Nine. Thank you for protecting my father. He can be a pain at times, but he is a good man." Gai gave his patented nice guy pose.

"It was no problem. It would be most unyouthful to not help your youthful grandfather! His project to free his country from the unyouthful Gato is so full of youth! It moves me to manly tears of joy!" Both civilians started to look a little disturbed.

"Gai-sensei, I will emulate Tazuna-san's youth by helping him free his country in one week. And if I can't do that I will do one hundred laps around Wave on my hands!" Naruto was not about to be outdone by Lee.

"Well, I will help free wave in five days and if I can't do that I will do five hundred laps around Wave on my hands!" Gai smiled proudly at his students.

"Oh Lee, Naruto, your youth shines brightly." The three were hugging

"Gai-sensei!" Tazuna and Tsunami were now really disturbed by the hugging men who were floating above the pool of water being fed by the waterfall as the sun caught the spray…

"ENOUGH!" Tenten waded in and began to whack the men apart, ending the genjutsu of youth. "You are freaking out the clients. Stop it. Besides, we need to figure out what we are going to do against Gato."

The group suddenly turned serious. "Right. Tazuna-san, do you have any maps of Wave?" The man blinked.

"Yah, I got some in my study. Hold on a sec, let me get them. Tsunami, please show the ninja the kitchen, we will use the table there to examine the maps." Tsunami nodded, and beckoned the ninja to follow her.

The group entered the kitchen, and saw the remnants of a meal on it. Tsunami quickly cleared the table as Tazuna came down with the maps. He spread them over the table. "Right, what do you want to know?"

"Where are Gato's bases? Since we just defeated Zabuza, it is likely he does not have any other ninja currently under his employment. We will strike in two days at the latest, and take out his men." Tazuna blinked.

"Wow, that's bold." He pulled out a pencil. "All right, Gato has three main places where he likes to hang out." He drew a pencil over the docks. "This is where his ships are based. It is also around here that the majority of his men are quartered." He then drew a second circle. "This is the mansion of the former Dynamo, which he took over. It houses him and his elite guards."

Tazuna paused. "There is one other important location. Gato has a private yacht, where he keeps a good portion of his money. It also functions as an escape route. It is possible that he will be on it."

"Grandpa, why are these ninja's here? They are just going to die." All the ninjas turned to see a young boy with a bucket over his head.

"Irari, there is no need to worry. These ninja's are super strong." The boy shook his head strongly.

"No one is strong enough to beat Gato." He then turned and walked away. Tsunami sighed.

"You will have to forgive my son. He hasn't been the same since his father died fighting Gato." Team Nine bowed their heads solemnly.

"Right, here is what we will do to oust the unyouthful Gato. Naruto, you will create multiple clones to scout out the area. Try to find anything you can without being identified. Once we have a clear picture, we will launch an assault.

Given what we know now, we will split into two groups. Naruto, Lee, Tenten, you will have the docks. Blow Gato's ships out of the water. I will deal with Gato and his elite bodyguards at his mansion. Understand?"

"Hai Gai-sensei." Naruto stepped outside and created a dozen clones. "You know what to do." The clones saluted, henged into random people, and headed towards town.

* * *

It was later in the evening. Naruto was running through the forest, calming his mind for the battle to come. By the end of the night, he would know the opposition. He came across a clearing and stopped when he saw a teenage girl picking flowers.

"Hello there!" The teenager jumped, clearly startled. "Oh, sorry, didn't mean to startle you there." The girl blinked.

"It is no problem shinobi-san. I am Haku." Naruto grinned.

"Don't call me shinobi-san, its way to formal. I am Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage." He paused, then "Can I help you pick those flowers? I recognize them, my teammate uses them to help with stiff muscles." Haku smiled.

"I would appreciate that."

"Great." Naruto bent down, and began to pick with Haku.

"Are you strong, Naruto?"

"I would like to think so, but I know I am not nearly strong enough to reach my goal. Why?"

"I believe that true strength comes from protecting your precious people." Naruto blinked, and adopted a thinking pose.

"Protecting your precious people. I like that. Yes, I like that a lot. From now on, I will protect my precious people. This will be my nindo, my ninja way." He continued to pick the flowers. "Say Haku, this precious person of yours, was he hurt by Gato?"

Haku blinked. "Indirectly yes." Naruto smiled.

"Well, tell him not to worry, because in two days, Team Nine will have ousted Gato. Believe it."

Haku was suddenly worried. Her master would not have come close to recovery by then and they needed the money. What were they to…wait, that could work.

"Really? You can take them out? Thanks." She shifted her basket. "I have to go now."

"Alright. Goodbye Haku-chan, and take care." She smiled.

"I will. Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy." Ah it was such fun messing with minds. She could feel his surprised expression on her back.

* * *

It was after supper, and the table had been cleared again with the maps on it. Naruto was holding a pencil.

"Right, Gato has control of the port. All the ships there have his emblem, so we don't have to worry about hitting friendly boats. Now it looks like he has somewhere around a thousand men total, including non-combatants. Most of them are already asleep, so if we attack at night we should have surprise on our side.

My clones could not get close to the mansion though. His guards were a lot more alert, and he had staff outside to clear out rats. None of my henged animals could get in. On a final note, around one hundred of his actual thugs roam the street constantly, we will need to have a way of getting rid of them."

"Good job Naruto-kun. Right, here is my youthful plan. I will assault the mansion, I should be capable of taking out any opposition there. Naruto, before the attack you will sneak in your clones and plant explosive notes on the boats and in the buildings. After they go off, you, the majority of your clones, Lee-kun, and Tenten-chan will attack the thugs. Siphon off around one hundred of your own clones to sweep the village.

Once you have completed your objectives, tie up any survivors and then sweep the town yourself. I will meet up with you. Finally, Tazuna, you and your family will be guarded here by Ningame, my summon. If Gato escapes on his yacht, Ningame cam pursue and take him down. Naruto, your clones will infiltrate at 2000 hours tomorrow, and the attack will commence at 2030, understand?"

"HIA GAI-SENSIE!"

"Good, now get some sleep."

* * *

In a different area a young female was tending to her master. "I ran into one of the Kohona genin today and learned some important information."

"Oh, you didn't just kill him?" Haku giggled.

"No, and it is a good thing I didn't." She then turned serious. "They plan to have destroyed Gato in two days, at the latest." Zabuza focused on her.

"That…would be problematic."

"Indeed. I have an idea though. We know that Gato keeps a large portion of his wealth stored on his yacht. When the attack begins, we can take the yacht and sail off with the money. We will be betraying our contractor, but the money should be worth it." Zabuza thought.

On the one hand, he wanted payback for his defeat. However, it would take at least a week for him to recover, and then it would be over. If he took the money now though…they would be better off. The rebellion needed financing. "We'll do it."

* * *

It was a dark night, with clouds obscuring the moon. A drunk thug stumbled towards his room, only to stumble over a boy. "Hey…what you doing here?" The boy grinned, and a hissing sound was heard.

Several explosions rocked the port. "Damn it, they discovered some of my clones. Right, that will have to do. Let's get these fuckers! _KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU!"_ An army of Naruto clones appeared, and the majority headed for the docks. Lee and Tenten followed behind, and the battle for wave began.

* * *

"Damn it, what the Hell has happened?" Gato was cursing a blue streak as he retreated back to his yacht. He had just gotten off from a lovely cruise when all Hell had broken loose. His men were being taken out at the mansion, and in the distance it looked like his port was a flame.

Gato was a business man, he knew when to cut his losses. So he was retreating back to his yacht. He had a nice amount of cash, for him at least, on board, and could start anew. He quickly boarded the boat. "Come on, get away from-" He never saw the sebon that killed.

"All clear Master Zabuza." Haku dumped the body over onto the land.

"Excellent. Let us depart to wave. Mei-sama should be pleased with the amount.

* * *

Despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, Team Nine had a rather easy job. Most of the mercenaries fought to the bitter end, but they were so poorly trained it was pathetic. Even the so-called elites were weak. The only problem was when the town itself began to panic There had been several unfortunate civilian casualties during the attack, most nightwalkers who were trampled to death by other civilians.

Gato was found dead on his private dock. His yacht had disappeared, but no one cared. Gato was dead. Tazuna, with a flood of volunteers, managed to complete the bridge in under a week.

Team Nine stayed for the bridge creation celebration. In honor of those who lost their lives in the fight against Gato, it was called the Wave Memorial Bridge. Feeling like the heroes they were, Team Nine trekked home.

* * *

After all that occurred in the past year, Hiruzen had learned to never underestimate Team Nine's capacity to get into trouble. So when Gai announced that they had liberated Wave Country, he didn't even blink. "Explain."

Gai explained. He explained the failed ambush by the Demon Brothers "speaking of which, here is the bounty money" to the fight with Zabuza and Tazuna's deception, to the fight at Wave, and the subsequent building of the bridge. The Third pinched his nose in an effort to stop the oncoming headache.

"Right. I am declaring this mission a reclassified A rank mission. You will be compensated accordingly. Team Nine, dismissed."

* * *

"Today we won't be training. Instead, you have to make a decision." These words caught Team Nine's interest immediately. Gai, saying no to training? What was happening? He pulled out three pieces of paper.

"In one week, the Chunnin Exams will begin here in Kohona. If you want to go as a team, take a slip." All three immediately grabbed a slip. Gai smiled.

"Excellent. You still have the day off, as well as the rest of the week. Do some like training, but don't over exert yourself. Good luck, and remember, I am proud of you." Gai went off towards the Hokage Tower.

The team looked at each other. "Chunnin exams huh? We are so going to own them!"

"I agree Naruto. We have enough youth to outshine everyone." Tenten nodded in agreement with her teammates' declarations.

"Well, I'm off to find my minions. See you." Naruto walked away from the group, and headed towards the theater.

His minions, as he liked to refer the Konohamaru corps as, were rather predictable. It was a Saturday morning, so they would be off to watch some movies. Being the Hokage's grandchild meant you had some money you could spend.

It was pure luck that he ran into them in the middle of the street. "Well well, what have my minions been up to recently?" The threesome whirled around.

"BOSS!" As one, the academy students crowded around him. "You have today off?"

"A whole week in fact. I am going to participate in the Chunnin Exams." Their eyes behind the goggles they wore grew wide.

"Wow, you are so cool boss." Naruto snickered.

"Thanks. And now, my minions, we will have a mission simulation. I am going to be the big bad missing nin, and you will have vital documents needed for Kohona. You need to run to the gate before I reach you. Do you understand your mission?"

"Hai Boss!" Naruto smiled.

"Good. Begin!"

The tri tore down the street, weaving through the crowd of pedestrians. Naruto chased after them, making sure they always were slightly ahead. "Come Kohona nins, give me that scroll!"

"Never. We will deliver it safely!" They ran through the streets, laughing all the way. Several civilians cursed as they jumped out of the way. A man complained as his cabbages rolled away when he was forced to suddenly stop, which caused his cart to overturn.

"My cabbages!" He wailed as they spilled over.

"Look, the entrance. We are going to make it!" Indeed, the village entrance was in view. The goggle wearing trio increased their speed.

"Oh no, I can't let them reach the entrance. I will be ruined!" Konohamaru simply laughed, and closed his eyes as he imagined his victory. This proved to be a mistake, as he ran straight into the legs of an older boy in a cat suit, who had makeup on his face making interesting designs.

"Ow." The teenager grabbed Konohamaru, who immediately began to twist, trying to get free. "You little shrimp. That hurt. Little boys like you should be more respectful to their betters. Why, I ought to-"

"Kankuro!" The blond female next to him shouted, attempting to alert him to the incoming attack.

He looked up from the struggling child to see a blond boy in an orange spandex jumpsuit charging him. He was too slow at bringing up his arms, and several quick jabs rendered the arms numb and limp. Konohamaru tore out of his grasp, and fled behind Naruto.

"Why you little-" Naruto grabbed Kankuro by his neck of his cat suit, lifting him up. To his right, the female had drawn her battle fan.

"Shut up." He slapped Kankuro. "You do not threaten my minions, understand? It was an honest mistake, there was no need to get cruel about it."

"Hey, let go of Kankuro now." Naruto was about to comply, his point having been made, when a third person appeared in a swirl of sand. The boy had blood red hair, a large gourd on his back, and the kanji love tattooed on his forehead in red ink.

"Kankuro, Temari, shut up." The newcomer had an air of barely repressed bloodlust around him.

"Sorry Gaara, its just-" The boy stopped speaking when the redhead fixed a glare on him.

"You are a disgrace to our village." He then turned back to Naruto. "I apologize for my siblings. It appears I did not keep them on a tight enough leash." Naruto blinked.

"Ah…it wasn't that bad. And thanks for intervening. Say, are you guys here for the exams?"

"Yes." Naruto was a little unnerved at how simply Gaara said it.

"Good. I look forward to kicking your ass makeup boy."

"It's war paint!" Naruto turned to leave.

"Come on minions, let's go to the training grounds. I will show you lot how to break holds." The group started to depart.

"Wait." Naruto paused. "What is your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage." The redhead with the black rings around his eyes continued to stare at the blond boy.

"Uzumaki Naruto. I believe you are strong. I look forward to feeding your blood to Mother." Naruto shuddered, and quickly ushered the group away.

* * *

"All right, now that we are all here," Several eyes turned towards Kakashi in distain, "we can talk about the Chunnin Exam. Who is entering."

Many Jounin, believing the exam would be easier since it was in their village, nominated their teams. "I, Gai Maito, nominate Team Nine of Uzumaki Naruto, Rock Lee, and Hasuwada Tenten for the exams."

"I, Kurama Denka, nominate Team Twelve of Hyuuga Neji, Nara Mizore, and Minato Yakama for the exams."

"I, Anoka Mifune, nominate Team Thirteen of Akado Yorio, Tsurugi Misumi, and Yakushi Kabuto for the Exams.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, nominate Team Seven of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Sai for the exams." This statement was met with hushed whispers.

"I, Yuhi Kurenai, nominate Team Nine of Hyuuga Hinata, Abruame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba for the Exams." Even more whispers sprang up.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, nominate Team Ten of Nara Shikamaru, Yakama Ino, and Akimichi Choji for the Exams." The room was full of deafening whispers.

"Hokage-sama, I must object to this. These rookies are not ready for the exam." Kakashi faced the protestor.

"You forget, they are now my soldiers. And I say they are ready."

The Hokage silenced Iruka's coming protests with a wave of his hand. "Kakashi is right. Very well, these teams are now a part of the exams."

* * *

Three genin had assembled outside the initial testing area. They were full of hope, and a little worry. Naruto smiled, and turned to face his teammates. "Right, let's do this."


	9. Chapter 8: The First Exam

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 8: The First Exam**

"Well, this is anti-climactic." Team Nine looked at the hallway with a staircase and a sign that said "Test taken on third floor, room 301." Naruto was rather disappointed. He had hoped that there would be some guards or some traps or something. Instead…there was a sign. A plain white sign.

"I have to admit, I also expected more." Lee was silent, ignoring his team's musings. Tenten fidgeted with a weapon scroll. "I feel like this is somehow a trap or test." Naruto nodded.

"Well, let us continue. No way are they going to make us chicken out." He then took the lead, walking up the stairs.

It was took them a lot shorter than they thought to reach room 301. It was so short that it made the team nervous. Ahead was a large group of genin being held up by two chunnin. "The test is in this room. Have your papers and identifications out."

Tenten did a scan of the hallway and noticed what was wrong. "Look at the other rooms." She whispered to her teammates.

Naruto and Lee looked, only to do a double take. '202, 203? Ah, a genjutsu.' "Let's head upwards." The group took off quietly, trying to make sure no one noticed their departure and questioned the validity of the sign above the door.

After climbing another flight of stairs, the team was at the right level. Naruto saw a passingly familiar man with silver hair and an orange book. "Hey, I know you don't I?"

The man looked up with a lazy eye. "Sort of. You kicked one of my genin's ass in a spar." Naruto blinked, and the memory came to him.

"Ah, you're the broody duck-butt boy's sensei. And the pink beauty…" Naruto missed the glare Tenten was sending him. Kakashi could only sigh. 'Naruto, you are so oblivious. Still you are lucky, she definatly has...pontential.'

"And Gai-sensei's Eternal Rival!" Lee looked at the man with some awe in his voice. This was the man who could challenge his sensei, and was barely loosing. "Which reminds me, I have 142 wins to 144 loses. If I can't beat you by enough times to claim a lead by the end of this exam, I will do finger pushups for three hours straight!"

"Bring it on Bushy-Brows! I won't lose to you, and if I do I will do community service for one week!" The jounin eye smiled at the pair.

"Well, I am glad to see you guys have a good rivalry going. Your teamwork must be exceptional. I'll be watching your progress with interest." The team took that as their cue to leave, and entered the room.

There were over a hundred people in the room already. Many had naturally segregated into groups of their own villages, and then segregated again into their own clichés. Naruto looked around, and noticed that the creepy redhead was there with his siblings. He grinned, and waved mockingly at the redhead. The cat suit boy behind him blanched. It was then that Naruto noticed the look of hunger in the redhead's eyes.

"Mother wants your blood, and I will feed her." He couldn't actually hear it being said, but could read the lips. Naruto blinked, and then decided to mind fuck the guy. He grinned, and gave the Gai-patented nice guy pose. Unfortunately, the gourd carrying nin only blinked. Naruto's grin dropped, and he looked away.

"What are you doing Naruto?" He turned back to face a bewildered Tenten.

"Just trying to annoy some assholes I ran into the other day." He shrugged. "It doesn't seem to be working."

"Really? I thought you were a natural at that." Lee smiled.

"Laugh it up." The doors opened, and several teams entered. One had a boy Naruto recognized.

"I see you failures are trying to deny your fate, and have entered the exams." It was a boy with eyes that would make you think he was blind, if it weren't for the uncanny way he would use them to bore into your soul.

"Neji-teme." Behind the boy were his two teammates. One had a sneer on his face, while the girl looked bored.

"You failures should just quit. You have only gotten this far due to the misguided charity of others. You are doomed to inferiority, and will never triumph, no matter how hard you work." Tenten scowled. 'I can't believe I ever thought he was good eye candy.' She shot a quick look at Naruto, and then turned back towards Neji.

Naruto was about to retort, but Lee was suddenly in front of Neji. "I admit that I am not a genius like you." His voice was quiet, soft, yet carried the weight of mountains. Naruto realized that he was furious. "I admit that I never would have been a genin if it weren't for Gai-Sensei's kindness. I admit it all. But know this. I may not be a natural genius, but I am a genius of hard work. And it has paid off. And when we meet on the battlefield in this exam, I will fan my Flames of Youth into my Will of Fire, and crush you." The remaining members of Team Nine looked at Lee proudly. The Nara girl with Neji had looked up with interest, and a bit of pity. The blond boy with them smiled cruely.

"Humph." Team Twelve moved to depart, but were stopped by Naruto.

"Lee spoke for all of us there. When the time comes, we will beat your fate loving ass into the ground." The team moved past Naruto.

The door opened, and a horde of people came in, some who Naruto recognized from downstairs. "Damn, someone must have removed the genjutsu downstairs, causing everyone to come up here. So much for weeding out the weak."

There was a cry of "SASUKE-KUN!", followed by the sound of two body hitting one another, Team Nine turned around.

There was the duck-ass, in all his glory, trying to fight off a ravage fan-girl with blond hair, while the pink haired beauty watched on with unrepressed annoyance. "GET OFF MY SASUKE-KUN!" A fist impacted on the blond, sending her off. Her teammates crowded around, while a third team moved to join them.

"Well, if it isn't the former top dog, Sasuke. Me and Akamaru are going to ace this competition, and show you who is alpha here!"

"Bring it on, Dobe." Naruto walked up to the group of rookies.

"Besides, if you want to be top dog, you have to beat me. I already owned duck-butt's ass." The last loyal Uchiha whirled around.

"That was before I awakened my sharingan! I could crush you now." Naruto shrugged, clearly not believing the declaration.

"Hey, could you lot keep it down. Everyone is nervous, and you are just putting them more on edge." The twelve genins turned towards the speaker.

"Kabuto-niisan! Nice to see you here. Hopefully you will actually pass this time, otherwise Hime will get mad and kick your ass." The silver haired genin chuckled, pushing up his glasses. Behind him, his two teammates glowered.

"He better not. I won't be held back because of you."

"Relax. Anyways, look around." The twelve did, and saw a lot of eyes on them. "You don't want to annoy people, it just makes them more likely to target you later."

Naruto adopted a thinking pose. "Hey everybody, listen up. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I am part of Team Nine. And we are going to kick all of your asses, believe it dattebayo!" Now every single eye was on him while he did the classic (in Gai's mind) nice guy pose.

"Naruto! Your youthful challenge has inspired me to new heights! I will endeavor to be twice as youthful of you."

"You will do just fine Lee. You are already flowering in your springtime of youth!"

"Naruto!"

"Lee!"

"Naruto!"

"Lee!

Everyone looked at the hugging, crying males in fear. They were somehow floating on top of a snow covered mountain, with clouds rolling below them. The sun was shining just above them. Sasuke activating his sharingan, trying to dispel the illusion. Instead, he implanted it in his mind with it's perfect memory, and discovered something truly terrifying. "It's not an illusion." Neji and Hinata came to the same realization as well.

Two whaps on each boys' head made the illusion of youth dispel. "Stop freaking out the competition! It's not fair to them, they haven't built up an immunity to it." The two boys fell apart and grinned.

"Sorry Tenten-chan." He then turned towards Kabuto. "Say, don't you have some information on the exams and the people in them? I remember you mentioning something…" Kabuto grinned.

"Ah, you mean my shinobi info cards?" He pulled out a deck. "Give me a name and I will give you some stats."

"Gaara from Suna, and Neji Hyuuga." Kabuto nodded, pulled out two cards, and channeled some chakra into them.

"I don't have much info on Gaara, since he is from Suna. He has, however, completed five B-Rank missions and two A-Rank. And get this, he did it without getting a scratch." Naruto looked over at the redhead. 'Damn, he actually is dangerous.' "Now, Neji, I have a lot more info on. He's a Hyuuga, so he has the famous "All-Seeing-Eye", and is proficient in the Hyuuga style of Gentle Fist. It is rumored that he is almost a master in their style. It says here that he is considered a genius even among the Hyuuga. He has completed 93 D-Rank missions and ten C-Rank missions." Lee was staring at the stats of Neji's card.

Sasuke stepped forward. "What do you have on Naruto here?" Kabuto blinked, and pulled out another card.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Team Nine. He is the last person to graduate from the academy early. If he hadn't, he would be in your year. He is an expert in Hebi style, and has access to independent solid clones. He has completed 124 D-Rank missions, thirteen C-Rank missions, one B-rank mission, and one A-Mission. He is also noted for having an unusual amount of chakra." Sasuke grunted and stepped backward. A boy with pineapple shaped hair sighed.

"You are going to be another troublesome blond, aren't you. Say, can you tell me which teams to hit, and which would be troublesome?" Kabuto laughed.

"That's harder, but I can point you in the right direction." He pulled out another card, and channeled his chakra. A large map appeared, with numbers and graphs pointing out of them. "As you can see, Kohona sent the most teams. That is because it is a home exam, which generally has less casualties for the home country. It also means the teams tend to be weaker as a whole. So your best is one of ours, unfortunately.

The ones to stay away from are the team from Oto."

There was blinking all around. "I don't recall a village called Oto."

"I'm not surprised, they are a new village that has just cropped up. Normally when a new village shows up, they try to flood the exam with genin, hopping some will get through. The fact that only one team was sent means they are a real ringer, and no one knows what they have. You probably want to stay away from them." The twelve nodded.

There was a burst of smoke on the other side of the room. Naruto, panicking, created four clones, which no one else noticed with their attention focused on the front of the room. He calmed down as multiple Kohona chunnin, led by a jounin with cool facial scars, emerged from the smoke.

"Everybody quiet down. I am Morino Ibiki, protractor of the first exam. You will be assigned a seat, and the rules will be explained." Naruto turned to his clones.

"You three _henge_ into another team. You turn into a mouse and stick with me." The clones saluted and complied.

* * *

"The rules of the test are simple. I will write them down on the board, and will not answer any questions." The man with the scars held a piece of chalk in a leathered gloved hand.

"You will be given a written test with ten questions. Each question you get wrong causes you to lose a point. If you lose ten points, you and your team are out of the exam. If your team scores under ten points combined, you are out of the exam.

If you are caught cheating, you lose two points. This happens every time we catch you. If you lose all ten points through being caught, you are out." The rules were written on the board. "You have one hour, starting now."

Naruto flipped over the sheet, and started to panic. 'HOW AM I GOING TO ANSWER THESE?!'

* * *

Tenten was glad for her sebon practice. She quickly grasped the purpose of the test, and set up a series of mirrors hinged on her sebon. She angled them with strings, and flashed the answers to Lee, who caught them on his headband. She then looked at Naruto.

'Damn is he freaking out. And I can't get a mirror to reflect towards him…wait. It looks like he has an idea.'

* * *

Naruto had an idea. And it was right up his pranking alley. He quickly relayed instructions to his clone, and then dispelled it.

A non-descript boy stood up suddenly. "Hey everybody, guess what? I am a distraction!" He then disappeared in a poof of smoke. A girl also stood up.

"Look! I am a distraction too!" She also disappeared. A third guy stood up.

"In fact, we are the distraction team. See you chums later." The final clone dispelled in a poof of smoke.

A man sitting next to a blond boy with spikey hair turned back and looked at his test. He blinked, seeing that it wasn't his. 'Sneaky. I approve, he passes.' Naruto simply marveled at the guy who's test he stole.

'Wow, this guy is so good, he managed to steal an actual copy of the answers.' Naruto quickly placed his name on the paper, wondering why the person hadn't written his own. 'Also, what is the tenth question?'

Forty five minutes passed. "It is time for the tenth question. This question is special, as you have a choice. You can skip it if you want, however, if you do so, then your team forfeits."

"Then why the Hell would we chose not to?" Ibiki grinned.

"If you get it wrong, you fail and can never take the test again. And before you protest against this, know this. This is my Test. These are my Rules. Your leaders agreed to this. Now, what is your choice?"

"I—I can't risk this."

"Number 35, you are out. Numbers 81 and 73 are gone as well." The three genin walked out of the room. This started a ripple effect, as more began to leave.

Ibiki turned to Naruto. "What about you blondie? You were having trouble with the questions earlier. Are you going to risk your career on this question?"

Naruto slammed a fist into his desk. "I am no coward. I am part of Team Nine. We do the impossible daily. So even if you somehow fail me, I will still become Hokage. You will not stand in front of my dream." Ibiki blinked, and noticed how his words had hardened the other genin.

"I see. Well, congratulations, you pass."

"EH?" Ibiki smiled.

"The tenth question was whether you would take the question. As chunnin, you will be given missions you know nothing of. So do you refuse them? Of course not. Cowards can't be chunnin. That was the purpose of the final question."

"And the other ones?"

"They tested your ability to get information without being caught."

There was a sudden crash as a window was smashed. A figure flew through it in a tight ball. Naruto once again reflexively created three clones. A woman appeared with banners displaying behind her. "Mitarshi Anko, the sexy second protractor!" was what they displayed.

"Listen up maggots. You may have passed the first exam, but the second will be way harder. And dispel your clones blondie." Naruto blinked, and then did so.

"Anko…you are early." She turned and faced Ibiki.

"Uh…opps?" She then looked back at the stunned genin. "Hey, what the Hell? There are twenty four teams here? You must be slipping, or getting old. Or both."

"Or they are really good. And at least I can remember what time I am supposed to arive at." The crazy woman simply waved him off.

"Bah, I'll have them cut down to eight when I am done. Now follow me."

* * *

After a five minute walk the genin were outside of a fenced forest. "Listen up weaklings. This here is training ground number 44, also known as the Forest of Death. It is my favorite training ground and the site of the second exam. The second exam is quite simple."

She held up two scrolls. "Each team gets one scroll, and tries to nab another. After having both scrolls, you head for the tower in the center of the forest. Only the first eight will move on, and you only have seven days allowed in the forest.

If you open up your scrolls, you are disqualified. If your team is short a member or two, you are disqualified. If you don't make the time limit or the team limit, you are disqualified. If you leave the forest before the time is up, you are disqualified. Understand…good."

Papers then appeared in her hand. "Now line up and sign these disclaimers. They state that if you die, I can't be held accountable. Fair enough, right?"

A pudgy boy raised his hand. "A week? What are we supposed to eat?"

She chuckled. "There are plenty of things to eat in the forest. Just be careful, some things are poisonous. Any other stupid questions?"

No one else asked anything. "Right, signs these forms and get your scroll." Team Nine filled out the paperwork and grabbed an "Earth" scroll. They then lined up at gate nine.

"All right, the second exam begins…NOW!" The gates opened, and the team plunged into the Forest of Death.


	10. Chapter 9: Death Round in the Forest

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 9: Death Round in the Forest**

Team Nine hopped up into some of the ridiculously large trees. "All right, we need a plan. And no Lee, shouting challenges at the top of our lungs to have people come to us is not a plan." Lee looked rather disappointed.

Naruto looked around, spotting the tower in the distance. "Everybody has to go to the tower right? Why don't we just head there and ambush someone on their way to the tower. They will be weaker from the fighting, and we will be able to take them." Tenten and Lee turned to Naruto. "What? I think it is a good idea."

"It is a good idea. Right, let's get there." Team Nine quickly hopped off towards the tower.

"Right, I will have some clones keep watch and some more set traps along likely routes. Lee, do you have the explosive tags?" Lee nodded, and unsealed a bag.

"Here, these should do. They are trip wire, just attach a wire to this point," he pointed out a line in the tag, "and channel some chakra. Once the line is disrupted, a three second countdown will begin." Naruto nodded.

"Got it." Naruto made his cross symbol, and over two dozen blonds appeared. Several relived Lee of his tags, while the rest began to move out.

* * *

They had been sitting for a while when Naruto's head shot up. "One of my clones found another team, from Amegakure, I think. I also think they had the same idea as us. They are in the trees over a likely route, looking downwards. I think we can get them from behind."

"Let's do this." Naruto took point, and the team once again leaped through the trees. They soon were above the genin team.

"Right, now we wait for some little genin to come into our trap. We take rounds watching and maintaining the genjutsu on the area-" It was clear he was about to say more, but was interrupted by a boot landing on his head.

The genin, with one of his teammates, landed on the ground with sickening crunches. Naruto and Lee barely flinched, and got off the broken and knocked out genin. Tenten had pinned the third member to the tree with her kunai, and had her clawed gauntlets on in front of the genin.

"Right, where is your scroll?" The bladed gloves were right next to his arms.

"M-my pouch…right side." Tenten did not relax at all.

"Lee." The boy quickly tree hopped to the same branch. "Right side pouch." Lee reached in, and pulled out a "Heaven" scroll. "Perfect." She then backhanded the boy, and set him down the tree, also knocked out.

Naruto hopped upwards. "Well, that was easy." Team Nine entered the building. A banner was waiting for them.

"If you possess both Heaven and Earth, open your scrolls." The three genin blinked. Naruto and Lee grabbed the scrolls they carried, and opened them.

"Look out, they are summoning seals!" Lee cried. The two teens threw the scrolls away, and there were two puffs of smoke.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto tackled the scarred chunnin who emerged from part of the smoke.

"Hey Naruto-kun!" Then there was a light whap as Iruka bonked him on the head. "You baka! What have you been teaching your minions? They have been driving me insane recently." Naruto grinned.

"Excellent. I have trained them well-ouch. Hey, stop bonking me!"

"Stop ruining my life!"

On the other side of the room, two more men were embracing.

"Oh Lee, your flames of youth had helped your team finish first. I am so proud of you!"

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"Gai-sensei!"

Tenten felt like the third wheel as the two groups embraced, (though why did Lee and Gai have to create that beach?) but she didn't mind that much. Though why couldn't Naruto hug her like that…

Wait a minute. Hug her like that…oh Kami, she was falling for him. Though he was kind of cute with those whisker marks…Yah, she had it somewhat bad. Still, they were young, and had time. Tenten decided to wait on her feelings, see if they were really. That would suck if it turned out kind of like Neji (though he would never be that cruel.)

'I wonder how the other teams are doing?'

* * *

Team eight was standing in a clearing, the three members huddled together like they were planning something. "I-I see a t-team approaching. They are h-headed r-right for us. B-behind you, Shino, and a-above." Hinata studdered out.

The team broke apart a few seconds after the other Kohona genin arrived. "Well, well, look what we have here. Three rookies standing around without a clue about what they should do."

Kiba grinned. "That is what you think!" Suddenly, a group of gigantic leaches dropped down upon the older genin, incapacitating them.

"It would be illogical to have stood around without coming up with a plan." Team Eight relieved them of their scroll. "We have the necessary scrolls now. Let us proceed."

* * *

The team had been heading for the tower for several minutes when they came upon a standoff between two teams. Team Eight took cover behind some bushes.

"Then die, Suna scum!" The larger man in front grabbed an umbrella off his back, and launched it into the air. Bolts of sebon rained out, and honed in on the redhead leading the Suna team. They were all halted by a cocoon of sand, which appeared around the redhead without any visable effort on his part.

"Is that it?" The Amegakure shinobi looked startled and worried. "I guess it is my turn." The sand flew out, wrapping around the lead genin. "You are from Amegakure, right?" The redhead brought the umbrella to him. "Then I will make it rain blood for mother." He squeezed with one hand, and brought up the umbrella with the other. The umbrella shielded him from the blood that squirted out of the former human.

"Ha, this is why you don't mess with Suna." It was the boy with the cat suit. "Gaara is the strongest genin ever."

"Wait, don't kill us. Look, here is our scroll. We are good, right?"

"No." The sand wrapped around the two remaining genin.

"Bye-bye now!" The blond with four ponytails waved mockingly at the doomed genin. They erupted into fountains of blood.

"Well, that's all we need. Let's go to the tower."

"Mother hasn't had enough blood." Both siblings gulped at this.

"Please Gaara. If we go down, then you can't feed mother at all."

He held out his hand towards the bush that Team Eight was hiding behind, causing them to flinch. Sand flew into his hand, forming a cork. "Fine." The team left.

Team Eight remained hidden behind the bush. "Let's wait a little, and then get to the tower." The team agreed.

* * *

Gaara smiled as he came upon three broken, but still alive, Amegakure ninjas near the tower. Yes, Mother would have more blood indeed. His sand shot out, just as one of the genin awoke, and began to scream. He smiled, and squeezed. Blood errupted from the mounds of sand. His smile got wider.

* * *

Team Seven had been bounding along when a gust of wind tore through the area. Sai was separated from the team, as Sakura and Sasuke recovered. "Where did the creep go?"

"Ku-ku-ku-ku! You should be more worried about yourself. Prey should not relax in front of a predator." The two turned to see a woman watching them, with a scroll wrapped by her tongue. She swallowed. "Let us fight to the death for our scrolls."

* * *

If Sai could feel emotions, he would have been annoyed. The wind was necessary to separate him from his team, but the snake was uncessessary. His ink creations had eaten the snake from the inside out though, weakening it enough for him to stab his tanto through its head. Now he needed to find his team.

* * *

Orochimaru stood over the beaten genin. The pink haired one was pathetically weak but Sasuke-kun was…deliciously strong. His eyes were even better then Itachi's. Yes, he would make a good host. A thump alerted him to Sai's arrival. "My master wants to know if the deal will continue as the two of you bargained."

"Ku-ku, why yes it will. Sasuke will be mine, and sensei will die during the attack. Oh, and by the way, I may have instructed my team to attack Sasuke at dawn tomorrow! I do have to make sure Sasuke can truly understand my gift."

Sai simply nodded, and began preparing his defenses.

* * *

Kabuto stood over the remains of a Kohona team. The group and been smashed to pieces with his new taijutsu, giving him very pleasing results with this experiment. "Thank you for your teachings, Tsunade-sensei." He collected the scroll, only to pause as his master appeared.

"Hello Kabuto-kun. There has been a change in the plan. Sai, a lovely Root agent, has generously decided to help his teammate. You should head for the tower. Oh and Kabuto, do try this time. It wouldn't do for a student of Tsunade to not make it to the third exam, right?" Kabuto simply smiled, and pushed his glasses up.

* * *

Team twelve stood over their defeated opponents. "You were from a mediocre village. You were doomed to mediocrity from the start. You should not have fought fate." The team left the defeated group.

"Well, would you look at that? There is just one guy defending our target. And boy, does he look sleepy."

"What are we waiting for Dosu? Let's get the idiot and fulfill our lord's wish."

"Indeed, but we must proceed with caution. It is possible the area has been trapped. Kin, Zaku, prepare to fight." The three Otogakure nins jumped down. Sai looked up impassively.

"Surrender the Uchiha, or die." Sai smiled his fake smile.

"I am afraid if I surrendered Dickless, my sensei would be annoyed with me. And the books all say that is a bad thing." The shinobi grinned.

"Good. Then die!" He pointed his arms at the genin, and fired compressed air out at the genin. Sai dived out of the way. He then pulled out a notebook and pen, and began to draw.

Several ink snakes shot out towards the genin team. "You will have to better than that." The spiky boy swung his gauntlet arm. The snakes dissolved. "My melody arm can disrupt chakra and your sense of hearing." He stepped forward, only to stop as a snapping sound was heard.

Kunai were launched out of several boxes towards the group, who ducked down. Kin suddenly noticed a rapidly approaching shadow. "Dosu, above!" He looked up, and raised his gauntlet, shattering the log.

"You are pissing me off. DIE!" Zaku raised his arms again, only for them to be seized by an awoken Sasuke, who was covered in unique marks.

"You are not worthy of fighting me." Sasuke broke his arms, and then smashed Kin to the ground. She grabbed for her sebon pouch, only for Sasuke to stomp on her hand. She screamed, and scrambled backwards. Dosu charged forward with his melody arm, trying to disrupt Sasuke. The boy simply punched Dosu away. He then turned to Kin.

"Wait, we surrender. We offer our scroll in exchange for safe passage." Sasuke smirked.

"Fine. You aren't worthy of dying by my hand. Only _he_ is." Dosu pulled out his scroll, and rolled it to the group.

"Kin, Zaku, we are leaving." The group slunk away. The marks on Sasuke receded.

"Sasuke-kun, you protected me!" He was tackled by his rabid fangirl from behind. He quickly shook her off.

"Let's get to the tower."

* * *

"Well, it was troublesome capturing you, so could you please just surrender your scroll?" Shikamaru looked at the Suna nins they had captured in his shadow. In truth, it had been rather easy; the group had walked right into it.

"Like hell will we surrender to a team with a lazy ninja and a fat-ass." The sky suddenly darkened.

"What did you call me?" Choji had the look of a murder in his eyes.

"You heard me. Fat…oh my Kami!" Choji had expanded into a giant ball.

"I am not fat, I am pleasingly plump. Pudgies rule!" He rolled forward, squishing the offending nin.

"Alright, our scroll is in his bag. Please, don't hurt us." Shikamaru smiled, and then ran forward. The genin, copying his movements, also ran forward and knocked themselves out on the trees in front of them.

"It would have been troublesome to have you lot follow us. Ino, can you not be such a troublesome blond and pick up the scroll?" Said troublesome blond scowled and picked up the scroll.

"It is the one we need." The team headed for the tower.

* * *

"Look at those trash, sleeping like that. They didn't even set some traps." The Oto team snuck up on the sleeping genin. Knives flashed, and three died in their sleep. "Look, they had two "Heaven" scrolls. How the Hell did these guys win one?"

"It doesn't matter. Let us find another team to kill." As it turned out, it wasn't need. The remains of a team, coupled with what looked like bear tracks, were found. And among the remains was an Earth scroll. "Perfect."

* * *

Karin paused to catch her breath. Her team was dead, but fortunately someone had left some traps that had killed the bear attacking her. Besides, it was time to head for Oto. She had done what she had needed to do in Kusagakure. She headed for the tower.

* * *

The seven days had passed with little fuss, save the protractor of the second exam going after an infiltrator of the exam called Orochimaru, and getting the crap kicked out of her. Anko looked over the eight teams with the other instructors and the Hokage. From Kohona, Teams Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Twelve, and Thirteen had passed. Team Baki and Team Dosu from Suna and Oto had also passed.

"Congratulations for passing the second exam. You will all be participating in the final exam. Lord Hokage will explain further." She stepped back wincing from the residual pain from her curse mark. Her short confrontation with her former sensei had not gone well at all.

"Before I begin, I would like to inform you on the purpose of the Chunnin Exams. You have been told that they are created to promote worthy genin to chunnin. That is only part of the truth.

The truth is that the exams are a substitute to war. You fight for your country in a mock war. The country that does the best gets the most contracts. This leads to more money, and a stronger village. Make no mistake; it is not just your team who is putting it on the line. It is your entire country to. If you embarrass yourself, you embarrass your country.

Still this is far better than the alternative. So fight hard, fight well, and fight for your country. The referee for the final exam will explain from here." The old man stepped back, and lit his pipe.

A sickly looking jounin stepped forward. "Koff-koff. The rules are simple. This is a team based tournament koff-koff. Each team is in a bracket, and fights until the entire enemy team is out koff-koff. You are eliminated upon your loss.

You don't have to win the tournament to be promoted. You don't even have to win a battle. Koff-koff. You only have to impress the judges. The brackets for the tournament are here." A large screen behind him displayed the brackets.

Bracket 1: Team Nine vs. Team Ten.

Bracket 2: Team Eight vs. Team Twelve.

Bracket 3: Team Seven vs. Team Dosu.

Bracket 4: Team Thirteen vs. Team Baki

Bracket 5: Winner of Bracket 1 vs. Winner of Bracket 2.

Bracket 6: Winner of Bracket 3 vs. Winner of Bracket 4.

Bracket 7: Winner of Bracket 5 vs. Winner of Bracket 6.

"The tournament begins at nine in the morning in exactly thirty days. You are dismissed." The countdown to the final exam had begun.

"We will so win this!" Naruto declared.


	11. Chapter 10: Revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Review corner:

Ero-Sennin56: I disagree. I think the sealing prowess of the Uzumaki clan comes much more from nurture than nature. Take Sasuke for example. He is lightning aligned, but can do fire just fine. Why? Because his entire family did fire, so for six years he trained only in fire. Sealing is like for the Uzumaki. Everyone did sealing, so you naturally learned it, and because so many did sealing, you were far more likely to get masters. It has nothing to do with genetics.

Also, Lee just deserves to be able to do seals.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking/mental communication'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 10: Revelations**

A middle aged man with long, spikey hair jumped through the window on the Hokage's tower. Unlike other Kohona ninja, he had the kanji for oil on his headband. "You called for me sensei?"

The third nodded at a seat. "Jiraiya-kun, it is time for you to meet your godson. He and his team are in need of training for the coming exams." The man hissed as he inhaled.

"I see. Right. Don't worry, the gallant Toad Sage has never failed, and won't do so now. You can count on me." By the end of this statement, the man had stood up and struck a ridiculous pose.

"Good. They will be at training ground Nine at six. Be there." Jiraiya understood the underlying message. 'No research for a while I guess.'

* * *

Team Nine had assembled at training ground Nine. Their sensei was even more excited than usual. "For the next month, we have a youthful man coming to teach us. Also, Naruto-kun, he will want to examine you. I think you know why." Naruto was at first confused by this statement, but then his eyes widened in understanding. He nodded.

"Say sensei, when is the man supposed to arrive? Is he late?" Gai moved to answer, but a booming laugh interrupted them.

"A sage is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to!" There was a poof of smoke, and a man appeared on a horse sized toad. "And I am the greatest Sage to ever live. Men are in awe of me, and women always want more of me. The one, the only, Jiraiya, the Gallant Toad Sage!" He had done some kind of…dance…yes dance was the right word, and had finished by striking a pose.

Naruto and Lee had stars in their eyes. "You are the man who wrote the youthful book I am reading?" Jiraiya blinked, and looked at Lee.

"You make seals? Show me." He hopped off the toad, who disappeared. Lee whipped out a brush, ink, and sealing paper. Within eight seconds, he had a working exploding tag. Jiraiya grabbed it, and looked it over.

"Very nice speed, lines are crisp and straight, yes, very good. Congratulations, you are on your way to being a seals master." Lee smiled.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama for acknowledging my hard work. Unfortunately, I will not be able to reach that level, as I am unable to mold chakra." Jiraiya blinked.

"So you turned to seals. Try looking up the Uzumaki clan, they were seal masters." Naruto perked up at the mention of his clan. "Well, good work. Speaking of seals, blondie, I need to see you alone. Now." Naruto blinked, and then looked down. He suddenly looked nervous.

"Hey…Jiraiya-sama…do you think I could tell them?" By now Lee and Tenten were curious. They had never heard of Naruto being so important, or secretive. Gai had come close to Naruto.

"I believe the youthful bonds on this team are strong, but it is your choice Naruto-kun." Naruto blinked, and smiled. He turned towards Tenten and Lee.

"I…have something to tell you and…it won't be easy to get out." Now they were really curious. Naruto never had trouble saying anything. "Where to start…what do you know about the Kyuubi?"

"It attacked twelve years ago, and the Fourth defeated it and killed it." Lee nodded in agreement with Tenten's statement.

"Close…he did defeat it. But the Kyuubi is a Buji. It does not stay dead. The only way to contain it is to seal it, and the only thing that can hold it is a newborn baby. When was the attack?"

"October 10th."

"And my birthday?"

"October 10th…oh my Kami Naruto!" He was tackled by a suddenly crying Tenten. She hugged him tightly. "You are the container of the Kyuubi, aren't you." It wasn't a question. He mutely nodded, and hugged Tenten back. Being hugged like this…it felt nice.

Lee slowly walked over, and joined the hug. "You are most youthful for holding back the beast. I salute you." The team hugged and cried together, as the older men watched proudly.

Eventually they broke apart. "Thanks, I needed that." They both nodded at him.

"Right, now I need to check the seal. Shirt up, and channel some chakra." Naruto had to unzip his orange spandex suit, which made him topless. He missed Tenten looking at his chest. He channeled the chakra, and the seal appeared.

Jiraiya looked at the seal with a keen eye. "Well I have good news. The seal is completely intact, and you have never used any of the Kyuubi's chakra. Unfortunately, that is also bad, as I want to train you in its chakra. There is only one way to do that now. You have to enter your mindscape, and make a deal with the creature. Anything else would be too dangerous."

"Why would it be dangerous?"

"Think of it this way. The seal is a damn, holding back the chakra. Right now, it is letting none of the chakra through. However, should you call on a little in battle, the pressure behind the damn will ensure you get a lot, causing you to lose control. Entering your mindscape will cause the seal to automatically send a tiny bit into you continuously, allowing you not to be overwhelmed by it. If you had used the chakra before, this might have been avoided." Naruto nodded dumbly, comprehending the idea, but not everything. And what was a damn anyways?

"Before that can happen though, I need you to sign something." He pulled off the giant scroll on his back, and opened it up. "This is the Toad Summoning Scroll. Sign this, and get the Toad Boss to acknowledge you, and you will be able to summon toads to fight with you." Naruto smiled.

"Like the Fourth!" Lee and Tenten looked surprised. Naruto was getting a legendary contract? Although, he did kind of deserve it.

"Exactly. Sign you name in blood, and I will teach you the rest." Naruto bit his thumb, and signed his name. It shimmered briefly, and then settled. "Right, here are the hand signs. You need a blood offering, then you make the hand signs, and then slam your palm on a surface. If you need to do it in midair, slam yourself."

Naruto nodded. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" There was a puff of smoke…and a tadpole emerged. "Damn it!"

"Don't worry, I expected this to happen. Now follow me, I have a way around this." The group followed him towards for a while. "What I am going to do is simple. I am going to throw you off a cliff-and don't you protest. You won't actually die, I have seals down there to prevent it, and I tested it myself.

Anyways, your body will think it is going to die, and force you into your mindscape. You will confront the Kyuubi, and make a deal with it. Its chakra for some benefits, and no, freedom is absolutely off the table in any shape or form. Once you make the agreements, simply place your hands on the seal, and repeat the agreement while channeling the chakra. That will uphold your end of the bargain, and if he doesn't come through, simply remove his benefits the same way.

Once you get some chakra from him doing a summoning technique. You should be able to summon the Boss Toad. Do you understand?" Naruto nodded at they reached the cliff. "Good, now the spot is-whoa!" Jiraiya slipped, and pushed Naruto off the edge.

"SHITTTTT!" "NARUTO!" Jiraiya grabbed Lee and Tenten.

"Don't worry, I did that on purpose. Now he is truly convinced he will die, but he will be perfectly safe." The team glared at him. "What?"

* * *

Kurama felt it as he awoke. His jailor had entered his mindscape. Good, that means the situation they were in must be desperate if he had entered without first drawing on his chakra. That left the Kyuubi in a favorable bargaining position. He was ready to meet-

"Aha! There you are you most unyouthful beast! You are the unyouthful Kyuubi who has attacked our village in a most unyouthful way. Fortunately, I, Uzumaki Naruto, the Awesome Orange Beast of Kohona, have such great flames of youth that my Will of Fire burns brighter than you do. I will not let you corrupt me, and if you do, I will run around the continent five times and if I can't do that I will swim around the world once. Yatta! Youth!"

Faced with the boy in an orange spandex, who had a thumbs up and a leg struck out in a ridiculous pose, Kurama, the Kyuubi no Yoko, had absolutely no chance for victory.

* * *

Naruto took one look at the dumbfounded expression on the kitsune's face, and laughed. Hard. "Ha-ha-ha-ha! Just wait until I tell everyone that I pranked you! You should see the look on your face!" The Kyuubi looked furious.

"**You little monkey! Respect me damn it, or I will end you and everything you care about in a most horrible way possible**!" Naruto continued to laugh.

"Like you weren't already going to do that. Besides, respect is earned Fuzbutt." Said fuzbutt snarled. Naruto looked around the room.

It was set up like a gym, with weights and machines and the like. In the center was a giant sparing ring where the cage of the Kyuubi was held. Water was leaking from the roof, forming the puddle at his feet.

"Anyways, jokes and threats aside, I am here to make a deal with you." The red eyes bored into him.

"**A deal? I will make you a deal. Release me, and I won't harm you or your loved ones**." Naruto laughed again.

"Nice try Fuzbutt. Now, really try it. What do you want, and freedom of any form is off the table." The Kyuubi suddenly grinned, and Naruto realized why this creature was so feared.

"**You don't really have time to negotiate with me, do you? You are dying or something like that, right**?" Naruto grinned back.

"Normally yes. However, I realized in here that Jiraiya "accidentally" tripped and pushed me over on purpose. I have absolutely nothing to lose. So…a deal?"

The Kyuubi blinked at the boy, who was so similar in some ways to his old containers, but so different in other ways. "**Fine. I want to be able to see what you see, feel what you feel, taste what you taste. And I want a way to communicate with you mentally. I will offer enough chakra for the initial state, and one tail form. Anything else, you will have to earn**."

Naruto thought about the deal, and nodded. "Fine. But we get mute buttons for each other." He walked up to the seal. "I agree to let you experience my senses, and to communicate with me." He channeled the chakra, and felt a tingling on his stomach. "By the way, I need some now to summon a toad. Otherwise, I will just be tossed off again."

"**Fine**." Some red chakra leaked through the seal, and engulfed Naruto.

* * *

He was suddenly awake, and falling. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" His decent was halted as he came to rest on a giant toad.

"**Jiraiya! Why did you summon me! There is no battle going on here!"** Team Nine was in awe of the giant toad.

"Hey, up here! I summoned you, you fool!" Jiraiya slapped his head. The toad boss looked up.

"**Ha! Like a little kid could summon me, Gamabunta, the Chief Toad!"** Naruto was beyond annoyed.

"I did you overgrown wart. I, Uzumaki Naruto, summoned you right now! I can take any challenge you throw at me to prove it." The Toad adopted a thoughtful nodded.

"**Any challenge? Fine, stay on my head for the rest of day to prove your worth!" **With that, the Toad began to bounce around, as Naruto desperately grabbed onto the toad's shirt. Jiraiya turned back to the group.

"Well, he has it well in hand. Now, let me see what I can teach you lot.

* * *

Hiruzen looked up as Danzo entered the room. "What can I do for you today?"

Danzo sat down. "A favor old friend. I heard today that your student was back. I was wondering if you would replace your usual guards with your students for the Chunnin Exams?" Hiruzen blinked.

"I could. Why?" He puffed on his pipe.

"A show of force. As you know, Suna has lost much of its business to us. They may be considering drastic measures. Having the two loyal Sannin with you when the Kazekage visits would be a great deterrent to a war we do not want. We are still in the process of rebuilding from the attack and the last war."

Hiruzen thought about it. "I see no problem with your request. I will do so." Danzo nodded, and stepped of the room.

'Orochimaru, you may be brilliant, but you are predictable. You will attack your sensei directly, no matter the odds. A reunion of the team should end you. Now I have to prepare Root for a war.'

* * *

"**Alright kid, you have managed to prove your worth…kid? Jiraiya, I can't get the kid to respond." **Jiraiya leaped up, and grabbed Naruto, who was still clinging to the shirt.

"It seems he has passed out, but was still holding on. That's impressive."

"**Tell him when he wakes up that I accept him as a henchman."** The toad disappeared.

* * *

The next day saw Team Nine on the training ground. Lee was avidly reading his new book. "These seals are amazing. Your clan, before it was destroyed, were most youthful." Naruto could only nod at Lee.

Earlier he had learned the basic version of what had happened to his clan. He was still kind of numb to the knowledge. Then Jiraiya appeared. "Right, it is time to learn chakra control. This will boast your speed and improve you ninjutsu. Here is what we are going to do. Tree walking." He then proceeded to walk up the tree next to him, leaving the genin flabbergasted.

"The key is to apply chakra to your feet. The chakra will naturally mold and stick to any surface, as long as you have the right amount. Use a kunai to mark your progress."

The three nodded. "I will have this down by the end of the day! Here I go!" He charged at the tree, only to fall straight on his butt. A deep laughter filled his head. 'Yah, laugh it up Fuzbutt. They aren't doing any better.' And his team wasn't.

"Right, take two." He ran forward, and poured much more energy into the tree, which exploded and sent him flying. The laughter echoed in his head again. 'Shut up you!'

* * *

The next week was spent learning to tree walk, at least for Naruto. Lee got it on the fourth day, and Tenten on the fifth. They had moved onto water walking. So now Naruto was soaking himself, to the pleasure of his prisoner.

'You are so mean.'

'**Little monkey, if this was all you had to watch, you would find it funny to. Now go out there and fail again.'** Naruto did run out onto the lake…to fall face first into it.

It took another week to learn water walking. Six days were on the lake, and the seventh was on the stream, which was harder with the water flowing. Then it was time for the final exercise.

"Are you telling me we have to walk up a waterfall?" Jiraiya nodded.

"It is great, it combines the hardest parts of both water walking and tree walking." Naruto looked over to see his teammates were already attempting it. Lee managed to get half-way up before falling down.

"Fine." Then next ten day were spent learning to walk up the waterfall. He could finally do it, but he only had three days left before the final round.

* * *

Each team member got something to work on. Tenten learned her affinity was lighting, and got two jutsus. One was a simple lighting: _Raiton: denki parusu _(Lighting release, Electro pulse). It charged her weapons with lighting chakra, and allowed her to numb her enemies with his weapons. The other was a really chakra sucker, _Doton: yomi numa._ This created a swamp under her enemies, trapping them for her to barrage. Unfortunately, it was such a chakra drainer that she could only use it twice a day, and not right after each other. Her swamp also wasn't nearly as big or as deep as Jiraiya's but it was still good for her level.

Lee continued to pour over the seals in the Uzumaki sealing book, learning several simple barrier seals. He absolutely loved the book, and received a few tips from Jiraiya.

Naruto was trained on using the Kyuubi's chakra. He could use both initial and one tail form, but wasn't good at manipulating the energy. Still, according to Jiraiya, he was making good progress.

"One thing about your competition. The redhead form Suna is like you. So…be careful around him." Naruto was very happy about the advice. It also made him…nervous.

* * *

There was one final surprise that he discovered that month. He came upon Tsunade training Sakura. "Eh, Hime, did you take on another apprentice?"

Tsunade scowled. "Yes brat, I did. This girl has near perfect instinctive chakra control, which makes her an ideal medic. I am teaching her the basic medicine." Naruto shrugged. More medics was always a good thing. He quickly left before the Hime could accuse him of cheating.

* * *

Team Nine stood in front of the giant arena. Gai and Jiraiya stood with them. "You guys are so totally ready for this. Go get them." The team nodded.

"We got this. Let's go." They headed to the competitor's box.


	12. Chapter 11: Team Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own the idea behind this story and any O.C.s created. Tenten's last name of Hasuwada belongs to Obsidian Dreamer, as Tenten does not have an official last name, and I suck at coming up with names, especially Japanese names.

Key:  
"Talking"  
'Thinking'  
_Jutsu  
_**Biju/Boss Summon/Very many speaking loudly at the same time speech**

**Chapter 11: Team Battle!**

They were all here. Eight genin teams, twenty four genin. All were competing against each other. They could all be winners, or losers, by the end. Their countries and lives were at stake.

"Would Team Nine and Team Ten please make their way to the area?" The call was loud, even over the chattering clouds. The two teams made their way down.

The arena was large, oval shape, and completely devoid of any remarkable features. It was flat and boring. There was only a starting line, dividing the two halves. At the center was a jounin named Shiranui Gemma. He wore his headband in a bandanna style, with brown hair and a sebon in his mouth.

On one side of the arena was Team Nine. Naruto and Lee were at the front, with Tenten in the back. Team Ten had Choji in the front, with Ino and Shikamaru in the back. "The rules are simple. You win by getting the other team to surrender, knocking them out, forcing them into a certain death situation, or by killing them. It is over when I say it is over. Do you understand?" The teams nodded.

"Are both teams ready?" They nodded again. "Then fight!" The protractor leaped back.

Immediately Team Ten threw down smoke bombs, covering their retreat. "WAIT!" Naruto and Lee, who were charging forward, halted. "There is poison in those bombs."

"Fall back. I will scout with my clones." Team Nine fell back as several clones made their way around the mist. One dispelled. "They are hanging back around the edge of the wall. They have their backs to the wall. I have an idea."

The smoke cleared, revealing the teams to each other. Naruto smirked, and made a cross sign. _"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!_" A dozen more clones appeared in a large haze of smoke. "Charge!" The clones moved forward, intent on overwhelming the group. Lee was among them, while Tenten pulled out several kunai and started chucking them.

"_Kagemane no Jutsu."_ Was Shikamaru's calm reply. His shadow raced out, catching the clones. It swiftly moved passed them, attached to the shadows of Tenten's kunai, and grabbed the girl herself. The normally lazy Nara ran forward, while Choji expanded.

"Tenten, Lee!" Naruto shouted, running after the now running Tenten. Choji smashed through the clones and Lee with his enlarged hands, all of which dispersed as clones. The real Lee, who had been running up the side of the wall to attack from behind, fell down with a painful crash. He had also been caught in the shadow of Shikamaru, which had extended from the edge of the arena.

"Choji, get Lee. Ino, don't be troublesome and do it now." The blond looked furious, but complied. Ino collapsed, and Shikamaru stopped running. His shadow retracted just as Choji smashed Lee with his fist, sending him flying back.

The green clad genin quickly stood up. "What a most youthful hit! Truly, you are full of youth!" Choji just looked shocked that Lee had gotten back up.

"Tenten, are you alright?" Naruto had reached his bun-haired teammate. She smiled.

"Don't worry, I am sure she is fine." Ignoring the "Wah?" from Naruto, the body of Tenten lashed out with kunai. Only Naruto's reflexes saved him from being hit.

"Tenten, what is wrong? What did I do to piss you off again?" He started running away, the Ino controlled Tenten following him. "Please, don't stick me full of kunai! What ever happened, I am sorry!" Tenten began laughing. Deep in Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi joined in.

A sudden boot to the head stopped the laughing. At Team Ten's rallying point, Ino's body jerked. "Tenten-chan, you must stop this unyouthful behavior." Suddenly she collapsed.

Ino's head jerked upward. "Damn does he hit hard. I feel really dizzy…" She collapsed downward again.

Meanwhile, Tenten was swearing. "That bitch got in my mind and completely messed me up. She took control of my body." Naruto looked really surprised.

"You were mind controlled? People can do that?" He was hit on the head by Tenten.

"Baka! Didn't you pay attention in class? The whole Yakama clan can do that." Team Nine then turned to face Team Ten. Lee moved to attack again, only to be stopped by Naruto, who had realized something.

"Wait, we don't have to attack. They are relying on the shadows for their defense. We just have to wait until the sun switches position, and then they will be defenseless." Lee and Tenten nodded in agreement.

Shikamaru heard Naruto's statement, and sighed. "Troublesome. You have figured out our plan. Protractor, we surrender." Gemma nodded.

"Winner, Team Nine." The crowed clapped politely. Team Nine grabbed their assorted gear, and returned to the contestant's box. Ino was pulled off by several medics, and brought to Shizune. "Would Teams Eight and Twelve please come down to the arena?"

* * *

The two teams stood in front of each other. Neji had taken the forward position of his team, and Kiba in his own forward position.

"You should surrender. You failures have no chance at winning." Kiba was enraged.

"Who the Hell are you calling failures! Your cousin is on this team!" Neji nodded, and then spoke as if he was aware of the Truth, and all that it pertained.

"You, like everyone, have a destiny determined by fate. Fate determined that you would be the dobe of your class. Fate determined that my cousin would be a weak, spineless creature who got others killed for her. Fate decreed that I would be a genius and born unfairly into the Branch House. And fate has stated that you will lose here."

"That is bullshit!" Minato Yakama smirked.

"Oh really. Your posture is tense, and bent backwards, indicating a leaning towards flight. You yell a lot, no doubt to drown out any shortcomings your betters might point out. Your eyes dart to the left when you proclaim your superiority, meaning you don't even believe it yourself.

Your female teammate keeps her hands together, and her face and back bowed downwards. She is nervous, and feels lower than others in terms of station. She is unhappy with her figure, hence her wearing those baggy clothes. In short, she has no confidence.

Your other teammate is the most hard to read. The sunglass prevent using his eyes to read emotions, and his attire is typical for the Abruame. However, what stands out is exactly how typical it is. There is no customization, which means you put the colony ahead of yourself. You have no true ambition besides getting better for others, and that is no ambition at all. In short, you are a team completely unable to pass these exams."

"Yah, say that-"

"We surrender." Kiba whirled, and Shino raised an eyebrow.

"What! What do you mean we surrender?" Hinata looked so sad, so apologetic.

"They are right, we can't win. We surrender." Gemma nodded.

"Winner, Team 12. Would Teams Seven and Dosu please enter the arena?" The two teams cleared out, as the next group moved in. Naruto looked at Team Twelve for a while, uttering the word "bastards" under his breath continuously.

* * *

"Hopefully you lot won't surrender. It would be much more fun to kill you." That was the mummy like genin, Dosu. Sasuke simply grunted.

"Begin!" The teams separated into their own personal fights.

Zaku paired himself with Sasuke. "I am going to pay you back for thrashing me in the forest." He raised his arms, and compressed balls of air and earth fired out. "You like? I had my cannons modified to fit my charka nature. I call it an earth bullet cannon." The rock projectiles came out a much increased rate, forcing Sasuke to turn on his sharingan to dodge the lethal projectiles.

The two reached an impasse, with Sasuke being unable to close the distance, and Zaku being unable to hit Sasuke. It was then that Sasuke noticed something.

'He is able to fire for a whole minute, and then takes 1 second to reload. That is not enough time for me to hit him, but every time he reloads, his tubes suck in air. I can use this.' Zaku began firing again, and Sasuke began counting seconds.

At 58 seconds he flashed through several hand signs, and released a fireball from his mouth. At sixty seconds, Zaku backtracked slightly to dodge the ball, while reloading. At sixty point five seconds, the wind currents forced the fireball into Zaku's tubes, where they promptly exploded. At sixty one seconds, Zaku was on fire, screaming painfully. At sixty three seconds, he was mercifully dead, a kunai is his head.

* * *

"Come on little princess. Let us see what you can do." Kin fired off several sebon at Sakura, who dodged them. She suddenly clutched her head, a horrendous ringing noise disrupting her sense of balance and causing her great pain.

"Ha, you simply got caught by bell sebon, and their genjutsu. You really are pathetic kunoichi." She roughly grabbed Sakura's hair, exposing her neck. "Time to die, _hime_." Kin pulled out looked down to pull a kunai out of her pouch. She looked back up to see Sakura's one kunai sticking in her stomach.

"I got out of your genjutsu really easily, bitch!" Kin collapsed, dead. Sakura looked at the corpse, and promptly puked.

* * *

Dosu charged at Sai, his melody arm swinging forward. "I beat you in the forest, and I will kill you now." Sai simply side stepped and beheaded the genin with his tanto, smiling all the while.

"My master instructed me to kill you and your team. And I was holding back." He then watched his team kill the other Sound Genin.

* * *

"Winner, Team Seven." Several chunnin entered the field, and pulled off the corpses. "Would Teams Thirteen and Suna please come to the arena?"

* * *

The two teams made their way down to the field. Kabuto looked nervous, but his team looked ready. Temari and Kankuro stood behind Gaara, who had a cruel smile on his face.

"Begin!" Two of the Kohona genin shot forward, intent on incapacitating Gaara. The redhead simply smiled, and wrapped them in his sand.

"I…I can't drain it all!" Some of the sand fell down, losing the chakra that had raised it, but the rest remained in the air.

"It's too tight, I can't escape!"

"Die, and feed Mother." The two genin exploded in blood.

"I surrender!" Kabuto ran away, clearly panicked.

"Winner, Team Suna!" Tsunade looked down with distain.

"Damn it Kabuto, why did you lose your confidence. You could have taken all three of them easily." She didn't notice the Kazekage smile cruelly at those words. Kabuto removed himself from the field.

'Time for me to carry out my assigned duties. I did always want to go out with a bang.' Kabuto smirked, and headed for his target.

"Would Teams Nine and Twelve please come down to the arena?" The two teams made their way down. Naruto and Lee were clenching their fists, and Tenten was sharpening a kunai much more than was needed.

* * *

Neji smiled at the team. "You should also surrender. Your fates have been decreed, and the most you could ever hope for is mediocrity. No matter how hard you work, you will never rise above your low level. You are a team of failures. A dobe who can't mold chakra, a fool who can't even produce a regular clone, and an orphan who can only throw weapons. You should just leave the ninja field now, you don't have duty binding you like my cousin."

Lee was seething in rage. "Start the match. Now." Gemma nodded.

"Begin."

Lee reached down, grabbed his weights, and chucked them at Neji. The boy dodged, and ducked under Lee's assault. Muttering a quick "Byakugan", Neji activated his eyes, and began to spar with Lee, trying to whether the furious rampage.

* * *

"I'll get the Nara, you get the Yakama." Before Naruto could respond, Tenten ran to the side, chucking a few kunai at the Nara, watching the shadows carefully.

Naruto shrugged, and turned towards the Yakama. "Right, let's do thi-wha!" A tree suddenly appeared around Naruto, wrapping him up and immobilizing him. "What the Hell is this?"

Minato smirked. "Let us see what your deepest fears are. "_Shintenshin no Jutsu"_.

* * *

They were in Naruto's mindscape. The boy was bound in a chair, just outside the Kyuubi's cage. The great beast was watching the two boys with a lazy, but steady eye. "Wow, what an interesting mindscape."

Minato looked around. "Truly, you are an interesting boy. Look at that water, it represents your fears and security. And this cage…the Kyuubi." He raised his hands dramatically. "You actually cage up your rage, and think it makes you strong enough to be on par with the Kyuubi? You are pathetic." A tic mark formed on the Kyuubi.

"**Are you implying that I am a manifestation of this puny human's mind? That his anger is somehow equal to my own?" **Minato smirked even more.

"Wow, it actually believes that it is the Kyuubi. You will be entertaining to break. I think I will start by destroying this obvious gross overestimation of the power of your hate."

"No, wait, you don't understand! It is the Kyuubi!" Minato merely smirked as he marched right through the bars…only to be snatched by a hand of the Kyuubi. He was so surprised he could even be scared as the hand dangled him above the Kyuubi's open mouth, and then dropped him. His subsequent screams were quickly cut off as the Kyuubi swallowed. The chains binding Naruto disappeared.

"You…you ate him."

"**He was foolish enough to come within the cage. And I would have found a way to harm him no matter what. Mind control…it is something no one should have. Leave, I want to digest my meal in peace." **Naruto quickly fled his mindscape.

He came to in front of the body of Minato. He vomited over the body, and looked at Gemma. "Dead." The jounin nodded. It didn't take a genius to figure out what did the Yakama in.

* * *

Tenten smirked as she grabbed some marbles with seal from her pouch. She threw them down, releasing the flash-bangs, blinding her opponent and removing the shadows. She quickly threw some kunai at the Nara, only for there to be a poof as one of her early kunai were switched with.

"Good idea." The Nara, Mizore, pulled out her own flash-bangs, and threw them behind her, extending her shadow. In the brief second, she took control of Tenten.

"Naruto, I need help!"

This cry snapped Naruto out of his stunned state. His teammate was in trouble! "Here I come Tenten!"

Mizore quickly maneuvered Tenten to use her as a shield. She then tried to engage Naruto in a taijutsu battle, and capitalized on his reluctance to hurt Tenten.

"Don't worry Tenten-chan, I have a plan! _Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"_ Several Naruto's appeared, and attacked Mizore from the sides. She quickly sent her shadows at clones, only for the real Naruto to appear behind her with a quick substitution with one of the kunai. A quick hit to the back of the head knocked her out.

"Nice job Naruto." The two turned to see the fantastic Taijutsu battle going on between Neji and Lee. "Think we should help?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. Lee needs to do this."

* * *

Neji was getting annoyed. This failure was actually pushing him. He was just so fast…and somehow his teammates were down, and one was dead. Too bad it was Minato. He truly understood fate. "Time to end this failure. _Hakkesho Kaiten."_ A dome of chakra was expelled from his body, cutting off the chakra in Lee's muscles.

"Give up. You can do nothing. You are a failure, a cripple. Do not try to defeat fate, it is impossible." Lee stood up, shaking.

"You are right. I am a cripple. Normally, it would be impossible for me to become a ninja. But you know what? I have the flames of youth, and I will prevail. I am Rock Lee, and I will never give up on my dream. Gate of Life, open!"

His blocked chakra points were suddenly flooded open by the excess chakra. "I will succeed." He moved faster than Neji could see, and demolished the genin. All watched on in awe, including one Hinata. 'Lee-kun…beat Neji-kun…through hard work. He didn't give up, and became strong. Maybe I can do the same.'

"Winner, Team Nine!" The victorious group walked out of the arena, proud. "Would Teams Seven and Suna please come to the arena?"

* * *

The two teams stood in front of each other. Sasuke and Gaara had taken the front. "Mother wants your blood." Sasuke blinked.

"It won't be my blood she will get." Gemma looked at the two groups.

"Begin." Sasuke immediately charged Gaara, sharingan blazing. 'I have to take him out quickly, he is dangerous.' Lighting began to crackle in his right hand.

"_Chidori!" _He plunged his hand into Gaara, but hit the shoulder, forced away from the center by the spikes of sand that sprang out of Gaara. Temari and Kankuro stared, something followed by Sai and Sakura.

"What…what is this?" Gaara forced himself off Sasuke's hand. Blood ran out of the wound. "This…is pain. It's blood. MY BLOOD. **MOTHER, I AM BLEEDING!"**

Suddenly, it began to rain feathers, and all Hell broke loose.


End file.
